The Improvement Era

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Vol. 30

No. 5

MARCH, 1927

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WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

A ONE LONE SCOUT

Keep it up ,a little longer,

Hold your aim, boy, hold your aim,
Tap it out a little stronger,

Go on going — that's the game.
What if things go stale and flat!
You are made of more than that —
Hit a new curve off the bat —

Go on going — that's the game.

Push your every nerve and sinew,
Hold your aim, boy, hold your aim;

Show the world the thing that's in you,
Go on going — that's the game.

Chance is all in keeping fit,

Let the other fellows quit,

Luck is in your pluck and grit,
Go on going — that's the game.

Glory isn't all in winning;

Hold your aim, boy, hold your aim,
Other things make up the inning,

Go pn going — that's the game.
Holding on through every doubt,
Let the other guys drop out —
Stick it out a ONE LONE SCOUT —

Go on going — that's the game!

Bertha A. Kleinman

-r w » » »

A ONE LONE SCOUT

Holding on through every doubt,
Let the other guys drop out —
Stick it out A ONE LONE SCOUT —

Go on going — that's the game! — Kleinman

Improvement Era

Vol. XXX MARCH, 1927 No. 5

FIRE AND PHILOSOPHY ON THE GANGES

By Dr. Franklin S. Harris, President of the
Brigham Young University

I just read in yesterday's Calcutta paper that four actresses had
been burned in a theatre fire in Rome. The news was flashed to all
the world. Today I saw many times this many people burned
without the least attention being given to them. I seemed to be the
only one outside of the families who was really interested, even though
hundreds of people were on the banks of the river where the burning
was taking place. Most of them were bathing in a very casual way.

THE SACRED GANGES

All my life I have read of the sacred Ganges of India and what
it means in the lives of the Hindus. Today I have seen a panorama
of the things I have heard of since I was a boy. I am at Benares,
which is the oldest city in India. It is also the religious center since
two great religions, Buddhism and Hinduism, hold it sacred, and the
third, represented by the Mohammedans, has a Mosque here.

It was here that Buddhism had its origin. Siddhartha Gautama,
afterwards called Buddha, who was born about 563 B. C, began his
work here. This afternoon I visited the ancient ruins of a temple
built more than 2000 years ago on the spot where he is thought to
have delivered his first sermon more than 500 years before Christ
delivered his sermon on the mount. This temple has been in ruins
for many hundreds of years and has only recently been excavated.
These excavations have thrown much new light on the life of their
great teacher whose religion has spread throughout China, Japan,
Korea, Tibet, Burma, and Ceylon but has almost vanished from
most parts of India proper.

Bernares is tremendously important in the religious thought of
the Hindus. They believe that if they can die here and have their

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of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 2, 19 18, $2 per annum.

Address Room 406, Church Office Building, Salt Lake City, Utah.

400

IMPROVEMENT ERA

bodies burned and the ashes thrown into the Ganges they are sure
of a place in heaven. My guide, who is a Hindu, explained that
there are so many people in the world that there is not room for all of
them in heaven which is a small place; hence it is important to do
the things which will insure a place there. They believe in the

Photos by Dr. F. S. Harris
Top: Bathing in the sacred Ganges at Benares, India.
Bottom: Bathing and burning "Ghats" along the Ganges at Benares, India.

transmigration of souls and that those who die here at Benares, will
have all the advantage on their side when it comes to being born
again.

BATHING IN THE GANGES

The bathing in the Ganges at the ghats (steps leading to the
water's edge) is supposed to have all sorts of beneficial effects, both

FIRE AND PHILOSOPHY ON THE GANGES

401

Photos by Dr. F. S. Harris
Top: Four stages in cremating corpses on the banks of the Ganges at Benares, India.
At the left, where the sticks are against the wall, the fire has burned out. In
the center below, the fuel is about half burned. In the center above, the fire
has just been lighted at the right, just below the top row of wood.
Bottom: Sacred structures along the Ganges at Benares, India. The two towers
are from a Mohammedan mosque.

here and hereafter. As a result thousands of people bathe here each
day. Every Hindu is supposed at sometime in his life to come to
Benares and bathe in the Ganges. This he does with great seriousness.
I saw hundreds of them with hands clasped in an attitude of prayer,
while they were bathing today.

I was at the river just at sunrise and already the banks were
covered with people bathing, and the stream of bathers kept up all
day, although many more people came early in the morning. I secured
a boat and was rowed up and down for several hours near the bank

402

IMPROVEMENT ERA

where the people were bathing and where bodies were being burned
and ashes thrown into the river. My guide explained about the
different points of interest; the ghats, the temples, and the people.

A PERIOD OF GREAT EMOTIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY

For me it was a period of great emotional as well as intellectual
activity. To be at the center of religious thought of over 216,000,000
people who believe in Hinduism at the present time and to realize
the untold millions who have turned their devotion toward this place
is in itself no small experience. Then to see all of these strange
ceremonies going on before one's eyes increased the effect.

In India there are over 68,000,000 Mohammedans; and, of
course, most of the followers of this religion dwell in other coun-
tries. When the Mohammedans conquered India during the latter
part of the twelfth century they destroyed many Buddhist and Hindu
sacred places; they even erected a mosque right among the Hindu
ghats on the banks of the Ganges, but they were not able to suppress
the Hindu practices and philosophy. India is essentially Hindu today
in spite of hundreds of years of Mohammedan rule and in the face of

Photos by Dr. F. S. Harris
Left: Part of the ruins of the temple which stood where Buddha delivered
his first sermon 500 years before Christ gave the sermon on the mount.
Right: The Buddhist Pagoda, Rangoon, Burma.

FIRE AND PHILOSOPHY ON THE GANGES 403

the efforts of Buddhism, and of several centuries of Christian in-
fluence.

Today I have seen all of these forces in action: I have seen the
Hindus in their temples, at their bathing, and on the burning altar;
I have seen Buddhist pilgrimsi from far-away lands paying their
devotions at the birthplace of their religion; I have observed Mo-
hammedans praying in their mosque; I have seen Christians in their
mission schools and churches. The four great religions of mankind
have been before my eyes, and I have talked with adherents to each.
I believe that I have been able to catch something of the point of
view of the different groups. This, of course, has not been possible
in any one day's observations and study, but during nearly four
months I have had many splendid opportunities to observe in Japan,
Korea, China, the Philippines, Malaya, Burma, and India. I have
visited places of worship; I have read many books, I have talked with
hundreds of adherents in all walks of life.

WORSHIP, THE MOST DEEP SEATED TENDENCY

Out of all this, there comes one impression that far outweighs
all others, and that is the conviction that the tendency to worship
is the most deep-seated of all of the higher tendencies of mankind.

I am reminded again of an experience of college-days. Another
student and I sat on a ledge of rock which we had been studying
in connection with a geology course. Our conversation shifted from
geology to religion, and he told me that he belonged to no church
and did not believe in a God. Later in the day we and a number
of others were in great peril in an avalanche of boulders. Most of
us were busy dodging rocks; but my friend of the conversation was
praying with a fervor which I have heard from few people. Since
then I have had a little doubt of the sincerity of anyone who has
told me he did not believe in a God and was not interested in religion.

I find in all of the great peoples of the world a devotion to
the religious idea which far outweighs any other devotion. The
great structures which have been erected by man have had religion
as some part of the motive. I also find that the lives of people every-
where are shaped to a very large extent by their religious ideas.

Another proof of this interest came to my attention recently
in a list of book sales by subjects. Religious books easily led the list.

ONE GOD, NAME ONLY DIFFERENT

This morning as my guide and I rode up and down the' Ganges
discerning the practices of the people and the points of interest, he
said something which has kept me pretty busy thinking ever since.
We were on a boat rowed by four coolies. They were below at the
oars; we were above them on a platform. I, as the master, sat in the
big chair in front; he, as guide and servant, sat behind me on a small
chair. We had just passed five burning corpses and were opposite
the Jalsain Ghat and facing the Mohammedan mosque. We had

404 IMPROVEMENT ERA

been discussing Siva, Brahma, Vishnu, Allah, and Jehovah, when I
asked him to compare certain attributes of Siva and Allah, to which
he replied:

"You see, master, it is this way; these are not all different gods;
they are all just the same one God; it is only ,the names that are
different. You see, the Mussul man, the Buddha man, the Christian
man and the Hindu, they all think they have each one his own God.
That is one great mistake. All the men in all the world, they have
only one God; it is just the name that is different."

— This from a man whom some would banish to the fate which
they prescribed for the "heathen." —

TREMENDOUS SERIOUSNESS IN WORSHIP

In this center of worship I find a tremendous seriousness, the
same kind of seriousness which I found in the Shive Dagon Pagoda in
Burma, in the Mosque at Jahore, in the Cathedral in Manila, in the
Shrine at Nikko, and in the temple at Peking. People are very much
in earnest about their religion, but I am afraid that they have their
minds so much on the water in the Ganges, the Buddah in the pagoda,
the altar in the cathedral, and the direction of Mecca, that they have
forgotten what it is all about.

RITUAL SHOULD NOT BLIND US TO MEANING OF TRUE RELIGION

We need the best intellects of the world with the best training
they can be given, to devise ways of helping all mankind to see that
the place and the ceremony and the structure should not be allowed to
blind our eyes to the meaning of true religion.

People everywhere are devout; they are sincere;, but how terribly
ignorant they sometimes are — and how superstitious! When all of
this devotion can once be turned away from the river, the brass, and
the incense and directed into channels of spirituality which are un-
polluted by prejudice and ignorance, then we ' may expect a world
which is spiritualized in the true sense; one in which religion will
take the form of service to one's fellowmen instead of being dissipated
on meaningless ritual.

Agra, India.

Ignorance

"It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance."

"Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and

calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may

see, and his ears opened that he may hear.

"For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble

and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly." — Joseph Smith,

D. and C, 131:6; 136:32, 33.

ALCOHOL AND HUMANITY

By L. Weston Oaks, M. D.
I

Actual harm frequently results from misinformation, supplied
by the poorly informed who have attempted to frighten their fellows
into obeying mandates religious and civil. Temperance advocates
have regularly defeated their own ends by gross exaggeration of facts
concerning alcohol and its use by the human race. Mysterious dangers,
painted in lurid terms, have long since proved strong attractions to
the curious human animal; and our attempts to terrify, by dark
promises exceeding the bounds of reason, serve only to whet desire for
individual experience. Closer acquaintance does not verify in degree
the reformer's zeal; and isuch truth as he may have presented is dis-
countenanced.

Believing that sane, earnest statement of facts may stimulate
rational thought and lead to avoidance of harm-producing agents,
through a desire from within to be free, the writer attempts herein to
offer only such data as competent scientific authorities have presented.
Material used here has been drawn from publications on file in the
Library of the Surgeon General of the United States Army, as shown
by the appended bibliography.

The substance known as alcohol has had an interesting and
variegated history. The name is of Arabic origin; and was long used
to designate a very fine powder. It was first applied to distillates of
fermented fruits and grains in the Thirteenth century. The earliest of
these was greeted with great enthusiasm, and was called the "Elixir of
Life." However, use of intoxicant beverages long antedated this time,
and seems to have originated in China and India, where it is recorded
as far back as 800 B. C.

THE NATURE OF ALCOHOL

In the chemist's mind, "alcohol" refers to a group of sub-
stances whose molecular formulae contain a certain atomic entity; but
to most of us the term may apply only to one of two poisonous drugs:
viz., grain alcohol and wood alcohol. Of these, grain alcohol, or in
chemist's parlance ethyl alcohol, is the one previously entering into the
composition of intoxicating beverages. Ethyl alcohol was formerly
made entirely by distilling fermented grains; but as its commercial
demands grew, the supply was drawn from distillation of molasses fer-
mented by yeast. Sorghum used for this purpose was the residue after
available sugar had been removed. Originally this constituted a waste
from cane sugar production. In controlled commercial manufacture,
distillation gives up three classes of product. Coming over first is
what the workmen designate as "heads;" then comes the heart of the
run, called Cologne Spirit, and finally "tails." Of these, only Cologne

406 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Spirit is sufficiently pure for medicinal use. "Heads" of the run
contains aldehydes, especially acet-aldehyde, which is decidedly poison-
ous when taken internally. "Tails" contains considerable fusel oil, also
a poison chemical.

Denatured Alcohol is a mixture of "heads" and "tails," to be
used in commerce and manufacture only.

Industrial Alcohol is grain alcohol rendered unfit for drinking,
by adding to ninety parts of it ten parts of wood alcohol and one-half
part of benzine or pyridine.

POISONING BY VICIOUS CONCOCTIONS

Ignorance, profits received, conditions of production, desire to
make every drop of product gainful and complete lack of responsi-
bility to their "patrons," combine to determine the nature of beverages
supplied by bootleggers. Here there is no attempt to avoid contamina-
tion; and their wares naturally represent the gross results of unguided
distillation. Fusel oil and the aldehydes1 are regular, and many times
not the most deadly constituents of liquors thus provided. Wood
alcohol, a distillate of woods, frequently plays a role in these vicious
concoctions. Hence it is scarcely strange that serious and even fatal
poisoning results with growing frequency from imbibing them.

That wood alcohol, now named by the chemist "methanol,"
is a poison comparable to potassium cyanide in its effect upon the
human body, is fast becoming common knowledge. Prior to the last
half decade, methanol was not a menace to human life and sight, since
it was then a dark, foul-smelling, bad-tasting fluid which no one
was tempted to drink. Now, however, by a new refining process,
these objectionable attributes are removed, without changing its toxic
quality in the least, so that it both looks and smells like pure grain
alcohol. In this newer form, it may readily be — and frequently is —
substituted for the other beverages, cheap flavoring extracts, essences
and patent medicines. Since discarding its marks of identification,
this deadly fluid has also assumed several aliases by which it is known
in various social and commercial levels. Among these designations
are: "Columbian Spirits," "Colonial Spirits," "Manhattan Spirits,"
"Pro Spirit," "Hastings Spirit," "Lion d'or" and "Acetone."

THE CONTEMPTIBLE BOOTLEGGER

Wood alcohol has a special affinity for the nerves of vision.
As small an amount as one teaspoonful has caused total blindness:
a larger quantity often causes death. The bootlegger, than whom
there is no more contemptible being in existence, and who is so
steeped in evasion of all law, moral and civil, that death of a patron
means nothing more to him than one less to sell to, consistently uses
anything that will furnish more profit in the preparation of his wares.
Wood alcohol in its refined condition readily lends itself to such use.
Some makers of cheap flavoring extracts use it as a solvent, because
they argue that such a small quantity of their product is taken at a time

ALCOHOL AND HUMANITY 407

that the methanol therein could not possibly cause trouble. This con-
tention, however, does not save the vision or lives of boys who, in
satisfying their adolescent curiosity, drink these extracts in sufficient
amounts to produce intoxication.

BLINDNESS FROM WOOD ALCOHOL

Blindness resulting from wood alcohol has a characteristic his-
tory. Its first result is a marked swelling of the optic nerves, which
serves to pinch the delicate nerve filaments. The individual, too
often a boy in his teens, awakes the morning after to find his world
in darkness. Mental torture over such prospects reduces him almost to
insanity. Then he joyously discovers he can begin to distinguish be-
tween light and darkness, which means lessening of the swelling.
Gradually vision returns, bringing with it earnest determination never
again to risk such precious possession as his eyes. However, the
damage has been done. Atrophy, or slow death of the nerves, has set
in; and he finally reaches resignation, through an inferno of mental
anguish and remorse, as the filaments of vision die, dimming his light
to permanent darkness. The courageous anxiety of such a lad not
to whine over disaster resulting of his own folly is a heart-rending
spectacle to witness. Yet we, as American citizens, allow this sort
of thing to go on, and even wink congenially when circumstances
call upon us to witness the vending of deadly poison to our brothers
and to our brothers' sons. Life has decreed that only the unfortunate
must suffer; and, each of us who, through his own craftiness, or
through the workings of an inscrutable Fate, escapes, readily finds
justification in his own eyes for not being his brother's keeper. A
report from New York City's health commissioner indicates that in that
municipality alone eight hundred people lost their lives, during the
year of 1925, from drinking alcoholic beverages! Nearly one thousand
human lives cut short in sacrifice to our civic indifference! We
loudly moan and wear sack cloth, when the war god stalks among
us; and bitterly grieve his demands. Yet, as a nation, we seem
unmindful of this super-fiend of destruction to which Thor must
give obeisance!

RESOLUTION OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

Grain alcohol has long been regarded as an important help in
chemistry and commerce. In the doctor's practice, it was once thought
to be of great benefit in certain conditions; and was used rather freely
many years ago. Today physicians recognize in it a poison drug,
susceptible of doing great harm when taken internally, and especially
when taken as a beverage. So thoroughly have most doctors come to
realize its injurious and dangerous attributes that, in 1918, The
American Medical Association passed the following resolutions;

"Whereas, we believe that the use of alcohol as a beverage is detrimental
to the human economy; and, whereas, its use in therapeutics as a tonic or
stimulant or as a food has no scientific basis; therefore, be it

408 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Resolved that the American Medical Association opposes the use of
alcohol as a beverage; Be it further

Resolved that the use of alcohol as a therapeutic agent* should be
discouraged."

In other words, this means that among those men, by training
and experience best fitted to judge, belief in the harmful effects of this
drug is so strong they prefer to cast it aside in their battling of disease,
that its promiscuous^ use might stop.

Until a few years ago, alcohol was thought to be a stimulant.
According to Dorland's Medical Dictionary, a stimulant is "an agent
which excites to functional activity." Scientific investigation, center-
ed upon the action of alcohol in the human body, has shown beyond a
doubt that, as a drug, it exerts none but a depressant action. Conse-
quently it has finally received its proper classification as a narcotic,
which, in plain speaking, means something that lessens function.

Analysis of alcohol's action upon the human body and mind in-
dicates that changes are wrought and effects produced in one or more
of four ways. Of these the two first named are obviously of little
moment in every-day life: while the others are both of fatal import in
subversion of health, personal and racial. They are:

( 1 ) A small quantity of alcohol is burned up by the body
to yield energy.

(2) Alcohol acts as a solvent and as an irritant to delicate
membranes lining mouth and stomach.

(3) Habitual drinking of alcoholic beverages has profound ef-
fect upon the germ cell.

(4) Ingestion of alcohol, even in small amounts, powerfully
depresses the whole nervous system; and the more complex or delicately
specialized talents or faculties suffer greatest diminution.

The dissimilar natures of these several avenues of influence seem
to justify consideration of each separately.

ALCOHOL AS A BODY FUEL

Dr. H. A. Hare, after many years of clinical study and expe-
rience, concludes that in typhoid fever, tuberculosis or diabetes, very
small amounts of alcohol give help by acting as a fuel to furnish
energy and save the tissues of a sufferer's body. In the presence of
these diseases in active form, foods are poorly handled; and nutritive
elements cannot be supplied to meet the demands of sustaining such
grave battle against destruction. Therefore, Nature draws upon body
tissues for fuel. This necessarily results in emaciation, pallor and ex-
treme weakness. Under such conditions, minute quantities of alcohol
are burned by the system to provide required energy, and to some
extent do save vital tissues. Only decidedly limited amounts of the
drug can be used in this way by the human body, even under such
conditions, before the excess begins to appear upon the breath. Just
so soon as the alcoholic odor is exhaled, it means that more has been

* "Therapeutic agent" refers to any substance used in the treatment of disease.

ALCOHOL AND HUMANITY 409

given than can be utilized and harm will result. In some persons,
the quantity given must not exceed one or two teaspoonfuls, every
three or four hours.

It is also believed by some observers that, where a person is in
the throes of severe disease, such as so-called "blood poisoning,"
pneumonia, etc., guarded administration of alcohol increases the in-
dividual's chances of survival.

While use of the drug is probably of benefit, under the above
named conditions, it fails of being useful where wasting disease is
not present. Taken into a normal body, its readiness of oxidation
attracts the processes of the system; and that quantity possible to be
used is burned at the expense of normal utilization of foods eaten.
This interferes with sane tissue processes and furnishes greatly increased
waste material to overburden those important organs of elimination,
the kidneys. Graphically to picture this situation, Dr. H. A. Hare
says:

"Placing more coal in the grate, when the coal is nearly burned out,
accomplishes a useful purpose; but placing an easily oxidized fuel, like
cotton waste, on top of live coals does not improve the fire in the grate,
but to use the words of the engineer, 'baffles' the fire upon which he
wishes to depend."

Healthy operation of the human machine depends upon delicately
balanced, inter-related separate functions. Disturbing of one process
is sure, in time, to upset the whole mechanism. Just as happens
in our automobile, if a part fails to perform perfectly its appointed
task, wear occurs, affecting one or more other parts, until we soon be-
come aware of loss of power with unnatural sounds putting in ap-
pearance. For the. car we can replace worn parts and eliminate trouble
which has been occasioned by lack of intelligent care in our use of the
machine. But few indeed are the replaceable parts of a human machine,
even if a source of supply were available! Each of us gets one
complete mechanism, upon which he must depend for the length, as
well as the happiness or misery of the life he lives. When parts
are damaged, as a result of ignorance or willful indiscretion, Nature
has but one recourse in their repair. She pours new tissue into the
worn or broken places; but can never, except in case of bone, skin
covering, and some elements of the nervous system, supply the same
kind that existed there before. Healing processes always occur by the
laying down of soft, cellular material, which later becomes contracted,
almost bloodless scar tissue.

If we wear out our kidneys, or other vital structures, by
over-loading them, non-functioning scar tissue replaces the broken-
down elements, and our processes of eliminating waste materials are
soon seriously hampered. Alcohol has long been recognized as a con-
tributing cause of Bright's disease.

A few physicians feel that small amounts of alcohol are help-
ful in the aged and infirm, where body activities are lacking in normal
vitality, and senile decline is somewhat advanced.

410 IMPROVEMENT ERA

EFFECT UPON DIGESTIVE MECHANISM

Much energetic argument has been presented, pro and con, to
establish whether alcohol is or is not truly a food. This contention
simmers down, in its last analysis1, to pivot upon our scientific defi-
nition of a food. Briefly, as stated by Dorland, a food is anything
taken into the body which goes (a) to build up body tissues, or (b) to
produce heat. There is now unanimity of opinion among investigators,
that alcohol is never made use of in building up tissues. Such a state-
ment may sound doubtful, in view of our individual observation that
chronic alcoholics frequently tend to grow fat. Attention has already
been directed to alcohol's interference with normal processes of oxi-
dation in the body; and it is well known that when oxidation fails
to be applied to suitable food materials absorbed into the blood stream,
they are either eliminated or laid down as fat. Alcoholic poisoning
of the body cells impairs their customary energetic efficiency; and the
presence of this drug in the circulation draws heavily upon their oxygen
supply, as it combines more readily with oxygen than do ordinary
foods. Left unused, normal nutritive materials must be hurriedly
disposed of to avoid hampering the whole metabolic process; and
such of them as cannot be speedily prepared for elimination and
handled by the kidneys, are hastily dumped into any convenient
localities as fat, to keep roadways open for a constant supply coming
from the digestive tract. Consequently upon this are the alcoholic's puff-
iness under his eyes, flabbiness of body tissues, fatty degeneration of
liver and of heart muscle, and "blooming" nose, all of which loudly
presage his inability to cope with disease.

Supporting the above conclusion, is an added fact, commonly
observed, that any person who cannot digest and absorb the usual
food principles will never gain in weight upon alcohol, no matter
how much may be ingested.

Alcohol also differs from true foods in the fact that its use tends
to give no feeling of having had enough. Under its influence, an
individual will continue to drink until so thoroughly poisoned he can
no longer lift the container to his lips. In other words it fosters an
unnatural appetite; and there is no way to tell how little may be taken
habitually without harm.

As has already been explained, in discussing alcohol as a body
fuel, such of it as can be utilized is burned to produce heat in the
body. And upon that fact hangs the contention that alcohol is a food.
It is interesting to note, however, that no matter how sorely in need
of nutrition and fuel the individual may be, the amount of alcohol
he can consume, before it begins to appear upon his breath, is not
materially increased over what it was when he was not starving.

While speaking of body heat, it seems advisable to mention
the notion that taking alcohol conserves body warmth when going out
into the cold. Many men have lost their lives as a direct result of be-
lief in this fallacy. A drink of alcoholic beverage rapidly produces
relaxation of blood vessel walls in the skin, with a consequent flushing,

ALCOHOL AND HUMANITY 411

the result of greatly increased blood supply. With this, there is also
a feeling of warmth, promoted by the flushing as well as by an irritant
action of alcohol upon lining membranes of esophagus and stomach.
Observation of these facts alone, though, fails to take cognizance of
an important and vital physiologic fact. The blood stream is a great
distributing mechanism. Among its other functions, it also officiates
in transmitting excess heat to the body's surface where it is dissipated
by contact with a cooler medium, or by evaporating of perspiration
produced. How much blood shall be exposed to surface cooling action
is governed by a delicate nerve mechanism, controlled through a heat
centre in the brain. Alcohol quickly depresses part of this mechanism
so that an excess of blood rushes) into the skin capillaries. In the
presence of severe cold, heat loss from the surface under such condi-
tions greatly exceed its production in the body, vital processes are
rapidly overcome and death frequently results.

Experimental work, by several able investigators, points to the
fact that alcohol interferes with digestion in the stomach. It has been
shown that when alcohol comes into contact with the stomach's lining
membrane, there is an outpouring of gastric juice to dilute it and
offset the irritation it produces. This hastily provided secretion,
however, contains decidedly less pepsin than normal. Only proteids
are digested in the stomach; and pepsin is the enzyme which officiates
in their dissolution. Consequently, it would appear that our old no-
tion regarding a little alcohol taken before meals, where digestion is
impoverished, is not well grounded in fact. The drug is much used in
chemistry and medicine as a powerful solvent. In man's stomach, it
dissolves or washes out the pepsin from those minute glands which
produce it; and so long as alcohol is present, no more enzyme is
secreted by them. In his book The Action of Alcohol Upon Man,
Dr. Ernest H. Startling notes that alcohol in the stomach, in the
strength of five to ten parts in one hundred, distinctly retards di-
gestion there; and further, the more alcohol present the greater re-
tardation.

EFFECT OF ALCOHOL UPON PARENTHOOD AND THE UNBORN

Quite general, among investigators, is the conclusion that alcohol
profoundly influences reproduction, both in man and in animals.
Carefully controlled experiments with white rats have shown that
animals treated throughout their lives with alcohol fumes are decidedly
modified in this respect. The number of litters born to these alcoholic
individuals, compared with the average among others untreated, was
considerably lessened. In addition to this, the size of litters was con-
sistently reduced ten per cent. Such depression of reproduction faculty
was found to continue two generations beyond the alcohol-treated
parents. This, of course, means that alcoholic poisoning of these
rats not only reduced their power to procreate their kind, but also
extended the subjugation to their children and their grandchildren. Such

412 IMPROVEMENT ERA

result undeniably means modification of the germ cell; and carries
an ominous portent when applied to man of today.

Professor A. Forel, of Germany, wrote in 1906:

"A serious matter is the prevalence of alcoholic habits, which tend
directly to the deterioration of the genital glands and the products of their
activity. The vigor of the embryo cannot be affected by accidents as the
loss of a leg, and by local disease only so far as it reduces the general strength;
but it is powerfully influenced by such general poisons as, entering the
circulation, are carried to every tissue. That alcohol is such a poison is
well known; and even when taken in small doses for a considerable period,
it has a pernicious effect upon the off-spring."

Corroborating Dr. Forel's idea is the work of Dr. Louise
Mcllroy, working in England. She writes, in 1923:

"I think it is not an exaggeration to state that alcohol is a poison; and
that the foetus (unborn babe) of a chronic alcoholic mother is itself a chronic
alcoholic, absorbing alcohol from the mother's blood, and subsequently from
her milk. * * * Daughters of alcoholic fathers are said to be in-
capable of supplying milk to their infants."

Another writer, Dr. W. C. Sullivan, says:

"Maternal inebriety is a condition peculiarly noxious to the
vitality and the normal development of the offspring."

This author also goes further and states that families where
the mothers are addicted to the use of alcohol tend to follow a
definite course as to child morality. The first-born children may be
normal; then come more or less defective children, who live beyond
infancy: then babies dying in infancy; then stillbirths and finally
repeated miscarriages.

Dr. Ashby, in the Cambridge Public Health Series, concludes
there is an increase in stillbirths, as well as an increase in death rate
of children born alive, maintaining an almost constant relation to
alcoholism in the mother.

A careful search of the literature revealed no record of investiga-
tion or observation which cast any doubt upon alcohol's leading to
intoxication of the human germ cell, with consequent defectiveness,
poor health through lowered resistance, and even death of the off-
spring.

Provo, Utah

(To be concluded)

A Prayer

"Thy will, O God, not mine be done,"
The hardest words that human tongue
In true humility can say.
O Father, give me strength, this day,
That I may wish thy will to do,
That I may answer unto you
In true humility of tongue:
"Thy will, O God, not mine, be done."
Springville, Utah DOROTHY DAVENPORT

RARE INDIAN CURIOS
Belonged to the Shaman Paraphernalia Centuries Ago

Important Find Links Ute {Ceremonial Observance with the Greatf
Uto-Aztecan Group of Indians of the Distant Past.

By Frank Beckwith

William Heise recently discovered near Delta a rare and highly
valued Indian curio, which was often used in an ancient interpretive
dance of highest religious import, practiced by the former inhabitants
of Utah centuries before Columbus trod our soil.

The object he found is what is technically termed "a ceremonial
blade." It bore an important part in that mystical dance of all dances*,
when the primitive red-man thanked the spirits of air and earth for
the blessings bestowed upon this child of nature during the year.

Photo by Frank Beckwith
THE CEREMONIAL BLADE
Discovered by Wm. A. Heise, in Millard County. Length 1 1 inches; width 2%
inches; weight 5%. ounces. Made of a light and dark banded,- vari-colored variety of
flint-like stone, resembling Obsidian in a dull polish. Of chocolate color toned with
reddish brown.

This ceremonial blade is fashioned in the hard, glass-like stone
of volcanic origin called obsidian; it is beautifully chipped in wondrous
handiwork, now a lost art, in form a double-pointed blade, with the
edges of the entire contour so keen as to present almost cutting
sharpness. ,

The color of the stone is chocolate red, with a creamy lighter
color banded or splotched irregularly over it.

A ceremonial blade is sometimes called a double-pointed spear
point, or a skinning knife, from lack of knowing its proper applica-
tion; but the correct use of this rare curiosity, and an idea of its
archaeological and intrinsic value may be obtained by quoting from
a Smithsonian Institution report, as will be done later.

There are no thong notches, nor are there any grooves in the blade,
to show that it was intended to be mounted on a shaft as is a spear
head; nor has it a shaft to be inserted into a handle like a knife;
nor even is it to be bound to a club for use as a battle axe, adze for
tilling the soil, or axe for felling trees.

Bulletin 78, of the Smithsonian Institute of Ethnology, en-

414 IMPROVEMENT ERA

titled, Handbook of the Indians of California, on page 26, plate II,
gives an illustration of two of these objects, which it saysi are "Treas-
ures of the Yurok Indians, exhibited in Dances. Obsidian ceremonial
blades."

"A 20-inch piece of black obsidian, would be worth about
$50," says that volume; "and the renowned giants, that reach 30 and
even 33 inches, from the native point of view, are inestimable.

"The red, which is the rarer, and does not come in as large
pieces, is worth considerably more."

Hence Mr. Heise has found, therefore, one of the rarer kind, and
consequently all the more highly valued. For the color of the article
discovered by him is chocolate red, in the beautiful, glass-like luster of
obsidian. It is 11 inches long, iy2 inches wide, and weighs 5%
ounces.

THE CEREMONIAL USE

The Indian of California used the ceremonial blade in conjunc-
tion with a sacred display of an "albino," or white, deer hide. If the
albino deer hide accompanied with transparent hoofs, that rarity
was then valued at as much as $500. And it is needless to say
that every art,, every guile, every bit of skill (even to deception)
were used to whiten such a skin in the tanning, and to render the
hoofs as highly transparent as that material could be brought.

In the Fall of the year, the primitive red-man, who, because
of living so closely to nature, ever fed from the bounty of the gods,
gave thanks to the beneficent powers of earth and air and sky for
the blessings showered upon him from the largest of powers who
held those blessings in their laps.

The whole tribe, with neighbor tribes assembled, formed a
huge hollow ring; on the outer circumference was the throng of
women and children; close to the center came the rows of bearers of
the albino skins, weaving in and out with the ever-increasing intricacy
of the dance movement; in the innermost circle danced the two chief
shamans or priests in an interpretive dance of the greatest symbolical
significance.

The host of the people on the outside beat torn toms or clapped
hands in solemn measure; the bearers of the albino hides .performed
their evolutions in rhythmic movement, timed to the beats, while the
two nearly naked dancers, presented their blades in mimic salute, one
to the other, in high sweeping gestures. The dance thus well begun,
followed in a maze incomprehensible to the white man.

The deep import of the God-touched deer, to be so signally
marked in spotless white, and the obsidian ceremonial blade, dug
from the bowels of the earth, signified the animal manifestation of
nature on the one hand, on whom man's substenance so largely de-
pended, and the treasures owned by mother earth, on the other' hand,
a use of which, loaned to man, lengthened his arm, and gave him \
tooth which bit from afar, for without his obsidian-tipped arrow

RARE INDIAN CURIOS 415

heads, man alone would be ineffectual to secure his food. For that
bountiful supply of animal food, and for the loan of that stone
which helped him in the quest of his daily sustenance, primitive man
gave thanks.

No doubt the full symbolic meaning was known to the ritual-
istically initiated only; but the tenor of the thought, the beautiful
simplicity of it, is so like the primitive Indian, who saw God and
heard him in every wind, that it fires the poetic sentiment.

THE GODS LEND THIS WEALTH

The two participants are highly ornamented with decorations
dear to the Indian heart — necklaces fringed with bear's claws, to
prove the valor of the brave who worsted Bruin; dance head-dresses
of eagle feathers; waist coverings of dyed rabbitskin cloth, woven
in strips of that animal's fur, painsakingly done, as benefitting so
ostentatious an occasion, that each wearer might reflect the pride of the
tribe in its inestimably prized possessions.

This dance interpreted that all blessings, all possessions, these
rare and valued articles of material wealth, all were loans from powers
above — to whom solemn thanks were then and there being returned.
What a contrast between this attitude of mind and the thought
of possession as gained from a stock market manipulation!

"For knives and arrowheads," says the volume already quoted
from, "the Maidu Indian used obsidian obtained in trade, apparently
from the north; also local flint, and basalt-like stones. The latter
material answered for a tolerable knife; but a good arrowhead was pos-
sible only in obsidian or flint.

"A flint mine existed in a cave at Table Mountain, near Oro-
ville. This mine was considered sacred. Offerings of beads or dried
meats were thrown into it, and then the Indian went within, and de-
tached only so much material as could be obtained from one blow!
Then the operator crawled out backward."

Think of that! — so precious was this useful material to their life
that its source was held sacred!

No commercializing of that font of supply; no greedy grabbing.
Propitiatory offerings instead. Gifts for the privilege of a loan —
and gratitude when given.

Ulysses poured a libation to Pluto before he invaded that dread
monarch's realm; and every Greek trader vowed a hecatomb to Hermes,
patron god of craft and barter, should the merchant do well with a
cargo of goods. But to mine obsidian by making propitiatory
offerings in advance is not in our accustomed mode of thought. And
limited to the quantity loosened by one blow! That sacred mode
taken, back out, with eyes averted from the prize, so as not to belittle
the gift by too close scrutiny!

OBSIDIAN MINE IN MILLARD
Hy Erickson and Jim Mace, both of Deseret, have found and

416 IMPROVEMENT ERA

visited an ancient Indian mine of obsidian, located in the Cricket
mountains, south of Deseret, where chips, discards and other frag-
ments attest that the Indian gathered his supply from that place. We
wonder if the native Ute, before contact with the white, gave a
similar offering at that mine; whether he made an equally fair ex-
change, and propitiated the guardian of the spot, before taking an
equivalent from the hoarded troves of Mother Earth. And if they
did, we further wonder what was the basis of trade. If the native
Ute was .so fortunate as to fleck off with one blow so huge a chunk
as that out of which Mr. Heise's treasure was made, did he, after
backing out with downcast eyes, then see in full light of day the
munificence bestowed on him? Did he, think you, present the gods
with a further offering out of a full heart?

PARAPHERNALIA OF A SHAMAN

"Large blades of obsidian," continues the Smithsonian report,
"single or double pointed, were probably not knives, as the local anti-
quarian usually assumes, but part of the paraphernalia of a shaman.
All evidence from central California points to this use."

The rare curio discovered by William, Heise substantiates the
findings of linguistic science; for similarity of language proves that
the Ute of Utah belongs to that vast Shoshonean group, anciently
spread from Montana, Idaho, Utah and Nevada, on the North, down
through California, Arizona and New Mexico to the very seat of
culture of the ancient Aztecs, with whom the Utes are far-distantly,
ethnically related. And the same rite, the same symbolic "ceremonial
blade," establishes a commonality of Utah with California in a re-
ligious observance of wide-spread extent. A cultural relationship
embraced all that area; hence the scientific name designating the family
relationship — Uto-Aztecan.

Picture in your mind's eye some dark night; fires flashing, and
casting a lurid flare over a vast assemblage on the great alkali desert
near the town of Deseret; two dancers prominent before the rest, each
with a ceremonial blade which they held in the upraised right hand;
and those two performers dance 'up to each other as in a Virginia
Reel, nearly touch the sacred and precious objects, and then back away,
to repeat, over and over, with variations interjected galore, as the
dance progresses in intricacy.

All this to the rhythmic tread of the encircling bearers of the
albino deer skins; while all the other members of the tribe, women and
children included, monotonously chant to the beat of torn toms and the
clapping of hands.

Picture that scene to your inner self, and then know that the
obsidian ceremonial blade discovered in Millard county has been
through many such observances.

THE SUPERSTITION
Around this obsidian blade, — yes, there clung a superstition.

RARE INDIAN CURIOS 417

It was shamanistic paraphernalia. It truly possessed magic. It was
"heap good medicine."

But, before passing a too hasty judgment upon our red brother,
what were our own beliefs at about that period?

Then, and later than then, (1647 to 1696) New England be-
lieved in witches! Twenty-five were found in tribunals to be guilty
of that superstition, the non-existent crime of witchcraft. Two cen-
turies before (1431) the tender Joan was burned at the stake for the
hideous crime (God save the word!) of "hearing voices;" and to
save the soul of that innocent child, her life must be taken in the
cruellest of all cruel deaths — a decision reached, not in the heat of
passion, but in solemn conclave!

This and these, and other things, of the then and now, does the
discovery of Mr. Heise open to our minds, as we peer back through
the centuries, scrutinizing the customs of our Indians who used this
ceremonial blade in their shamanistic rites; nor in snugness should we
fancy ourselves entirely free in that era from all superstition, for
mayhap, ' contemporary with that time, we ourselves held equally
irrational beliefs, though our superstitions were differently phased.

Delta, Utah

Dark Days

I have seen some days of sorrow,

When my hopes were crushed and dead;
And I seemed alone, dejected,

With a heart weighed down like lead.
I have stood alone and friendless

Longing for some tender friend
Who would feel the same as I feel,

Or a bit of comfort lend.

Strange, how morbid thoughts affect us

Like the frost upon the flower;
And our spirit droops in anguish,

Wilting more and more each hour.
But there's One who gives you comfort,

When your last friend turns away;
You have only just to ask Him,

Or in earnest #ccents pray.

I have often gained that comfort,

When my days were dark as night;
And my soul was raised from sorrow,

Raised from darkness into light.
So, I say to those discouraged

Who are plodding life's rough way,
You are sure to find sweet comfort

If you don't forget to pray.
Menan, Idaho ELSIE M. LARSEN

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JOSEPH SMITH AND THE GREAT WEST

How the British Invaded the Utah Country and Set
About to Conquer and Hold It

By I. K. Russell, Author of "Hidden Heroes of the Rockies"

XIV

When I was written to in Nauvoo by the President of the United States,
through another person, inquiring, 'Where are you going, Mr. Young?"
I replied that I did not know where we should land. We had men in
England trying to negotiate for Vancouver's Island and we sent a ship load
of Saints around Cape .Horn for California. Men in authority asked,
"Where are you going to?" "We may go to California or to Vancouver's
Island." Brigham Young in a sermon, quoted by Dr. John A. Widtsoe in his
Discourses of Brigham Young.

The quotation at the head of this article clears a gentle bit of
mystery that has refused, until I found it, to admit of being fitted
anywhere into the patch work of the Conquest of the Great West.
Twenty years ago, when I first began work at solving the problem
of what really had- gone on in the Far West before the era of Settle-
ment, I happened upon a British story of the Columbia river country.

It told an apparently "weird" story of some "Mormons" throw-
ing the Parliament of England into a panic by proposing to buy a
spot on which to settle on Vancouver's Island. It told how Parliament
had been the scene of excited speeches to the effect that British policy
in that quarter was all wrong, that British land laws, as liberal
as the American, should be passed 'at orice, as emergency measures,
and that British settlers must be rushed forward by way of the
Saskatchewan river at once. The Yankees must not gain Vancouver's
Island, and until their own settlement plans were made, Brigham
Young and his "Mormons" must be driven off by naval and military
force if necessary.

What then read like a weird yarn now turns out to be true, foi
Brigham Young had put the crowbar under British affairs which re-
sulted in a ten-year campaign by the (great Gladstone to make the
British portion of the Far West as attractive to settlers as was the
American portion. It was a campaign which resulted in Gladstone's
final great orations against the Hudson's Bay Co. He succeeded in
having the company hurled out of power over the Far West and the
government of Canada extended westward to the Pacific.

It also resulted in the suppressing of several books, as the
Hudson's Bay Company officials found they told much that the
company did not wish known about the Far West. They were
by company officials. Gladstone read one of these books, page by
page, to its author, Sir George Simpson, as he drew contrasts be-
tween its beautiful pictures of the Far West and the desolate pictures
drawn by him verbally in trying to paint the Far West as not suited

420 IMPROVEMENT ERA

to settlement. This book was a two-volume work, entitled A Journey
Round the World, by Sir George Simpson.

We shall have much to do with this work later in this series,
for there Sir George "spills the beans," even to the extent of the
manner in which he made every effort to get Great Britain into war
with America over the Oregon country, just as the "Mormon Battalion"
was starting its long march west, where, in the event of such a war,
it would have been in ready striking distance of the British frontier
on the Columbia.

It is hard for people of the present generation to realize that
Utah was once British-ruled, and British-held for two yhole decades,
while Americans were thwarted at the passes of the Rocky Mountains
and told they must remain on their eastward slopes.

We now turn to the telling of the story of that British in-
vasion. It is a rosy chapter of Utah affairs, for it alone gives us the
picture of our wild Indians before they had heard the crack of the
white man's rifle or had tasted the white man's whiskey or tobacco.
It gives us the picture of our wild life before it had been hunted out
of its natural haunts.

Utah, then, was invaded first of all by would-be possessors of
the land, coming with intent to stay and Igain riches, in a regular
military processional.

These invaders built a fort as a base of operations. They sent
out cavalry from their fort, and maintained a courier system between
the fort and distant bases in the Utah wilderness. The first invading
party discovered our Bear Lake land |named it. Their first Utah
winter was spent there, and strung along the Green River branches.

What kind of men they were can be guessed by the fact that
their Scotch leader led his horse brigade into the Utah mountains and
then decided, in the dead of winter to go back to the company's
base. Taking six men with only a blanket each, he struck out over
the frozen isnow. (His route was from some point near Bear Lake
or up on the Green River, northward across Idaho to the Grand
Forks of the Columbia, near the present town of Walla Walla.

It was a route so forbidding in mid-winter that few, if any,
Americans would want to tackk it now. Yet with a blanket on his
back this leader of the British invasion into Utah made the journey,
a matter of 600 miles, and did not have a jword of complaint or a
word about cold, weariness, or hunger, when he arrived. With hardly
any rest after transacting the business which brought him in, he turned
around and struck out over the snow, back to the rendezvous of his
people in the Bear Lake or Green River country. His trip northward
was on snowshoes. His return was by boat up the Snake for he
was out to make the first white man's survey of its navigation pos-
sibilities.

To understand this British invasion we must come to know in-
timately three Scotchmen engaged in field work and two who were
behind them in authority and power. And we must understand

JOSEPH SMITH AND THE GREAT WEST 421

the democratic system under which Americans moved — and the
feudalistic system under which these Scotchmen moved. For the two
systems differed radically. And thereby hung the tale of the final
victory for America.

The three men we must most intimately take into the picture
are Alexander Ross, as fearless a Scot as ever wielded a sword in a
Scottish clan; Donald McKenzie, discoverer of Bear Lake and a
man who hated writing so that we have no narrative of his great Utah
adventures; and our own Peter Skene Ogden, after whose brothers
Ogdensburg, New York, is named, while Ogden, Utah, is named
after Peter himself; and Washington's famous headquarters at Mor-
ristown, N. J., is his father's original family home.

That Peter Skene Ogden should turn up at Ogden's Hole, Utah,
as carrier of the British flag into the Far West is one of those sad items
of the Revolutionary War. Not all Americans joined Washington.
Judge Isaac Ogden, Peter's father, did not, and so his home was
confiscated while he fled to Canada as a loyalist. There his son
took service with Canadian fur hunters — and so lived to be for a
decade a British leader in the Utah country.

At this time we can only carry the British group through its
regular work of laying siege to the Utah citadels of wealth in the
form of furs. Donald McKenzie was the beginner of it all.

He had gone through the Idaho country with westward-bound
Astorians in 1811, and so did not fear the Snake River desert as most
of the "Nor' -westers" did. When we last considered the Fur Hunters
of the Columbia we left Alexander Ross there with others, trying to
fell forest trees to build an American fort. Canadian traders brought
news of the war of 1812 to it, bought it out, the British flag was
run up, and America made a treaty for "joint occupation of the
Oregon country," pending some later settlement of boundary.

But Americans withdrew, leaving the British in actual possession.
That being nine-tenths of the law, they held onto the country — right
up to the day Brigham Young started his movement towards it, and
it was only by the 'slenderest of margins that he did not have to fight
the British to gain a foothold in Utah as he would have had to fight
them to gain a foothold on Vancouver's Island as he had partly planned
to do.

The first argument of the British was that the treaty for joint
occupation applied only to Oregon. There lay the Utah country,
then called Eastern California. They could occupy that. It was
not mentioned in the treaty. And possessing it, they Would" possess
the American road to Oregon. There was western California, too, —
they could go there. And so two grand plans of campaign were
mapped out as early as 1816. One called for a movement on Utah,
with Green River Valley as its objective, and the other called for an
invasion of California with San Francisco bay as its objective. Utah
then included everything north of New Mexico to the Oregon line.

Both expeditions were started off in grand form, — Donald

422 IMPROVEMENT ERA

McKenzie being commander of the Utah expedition from Fort George,
as Astoria had been rechristened, on the Columbia.

McKenzie came to his task fuming and fussing. He had re-
treated out of that country with the Astorians in 1813 and then had
"sold" the nabobs of the North-west Company the idea of exploring
the "Snake Country." He had converted the company chiefs at their
Grand Headquarters, Fort William, on Georgian Bay, Lake Ontario,
from which point northern Utah was ruled for five years just as it
was later ruled from a Hudson's Bay Company fort on the west
shore of Hudson's Bay for twenty-four years from 1821 to 1845.

McKenzie arrived at the mouth of the Columbia to present
requisitions on men who were his superiors in caste and seignorial
standing. They loathed him, and hated him and wished him all the
ill luck they could imagine. He was the "bounder" of their group.
For- by 1816 ease had come to the Columbia, with dance halls where
Scottish reels enlivened Christmas carousals, and the fairest of the
fair Indian daughters came to dance with trappers.

ALEXANDER ROSS' STORY-

In fact the town of Winnipeg. as we now know it was formed
by these trappers, in their later years, when they wanted an asylum
for their Indian wives and children. Alexander Ross, encumbered
just so with an Indian family became an official of Winnipeg and in
the leisure of his final years wrote us all that here follows in this
narrative. He wrote two volumes on his hunting experiences, called
Fur Hunters of the Far West.

And in these he makes it known that he conspired with his
friend McKenzie to get the Utah country opened. He passed the
word on to Fort William, on the Great Lakes, that the western
nabobs of the company had built a second great fort with dance hall,
race track, and great dining hall at Spokane, — and there took too
much ease. He wanted a new fort, where there would be no ease,
for his invasion of the Utah country.

In June, .1818, the final preparations were made and the order
issued on authority of Fort William itself that McKenzie should
have 100 men for a "Snake Country" expedition and should build a
fort as a base at Walla Walla. We are now at the genesis of the first
attempted Utah occupation by white men for revenue-producing
purposes.

"To these resolutions," records Ross, "were appended sharp
reproof for the delays during the two preceding years." The hundred
men got off at once in a gay canoe brigade up the Columbia to the
Grand Forks.

"On July 11, 1818," Ross records, "McKenzie and myself, and
ninety-five effective men, encamped on the site pitched upon for the
new establishment of Fort Nez Perces, about half a mile from the
mouth of the little river Walla Walla."

There were five tribes of Indians there of whom we can recog-

JOSEPH SMITH AND THE GREAT WEST 423

nize the Shoshones, the Nez Perces, the Flatheads and the Cayuses.
All were bred to war and considered peace squaw-like. They were
accustomed to horse-stealing raids all the way down into the Santa
Fe country, over the same trails the "Mormon" pioneers used in
making Santa Fe connections. Of horses they had enormous abun-
dance.

Wild horses, in droves1 of 200 or more each, coursed up and
down the plain. There was no timber of which to build a fort so
men were sent far up the Columbia to cut trees and set them afloat
in the river. Fort Nez Perces arose from logs caught as they floated
past its site from logging camps 100 miles above it.

Perhaps among those Shoshone chieftains Washakie sported about
as a young warrior, gaining white man's experience which made him
later so great a friend to Brigham Young and the "Mormon" people.
The chief of the Shoshones just then was Tum-a-ta-um, an Indian
giant of unlimited lust for war. He was out on the war-path when
the fort was built.

"What, make peace and be like squaws?" he cried when Ross
explained to him at last the ways of trade and the need of traders
for safe trails and secure camp grounds.

Tum-a-ta-um came roaring into camp "with mangled prisoners,
bloody scalps, hideous yells and barbarous gestures." His answer to
the white man's first peace proposal was, "And then shall I throw
away these trophies (pointing to his scalps and arms) and forget the
glory of my forefathers and become a woman?"

-He little guessed he had prophesied the fate that Brigham Young
would force upon his tribesmen, in another quarter-century.

"They must either be civilized," Ross confided to his diary,
"or extirpated; then there may be peac£, but not till then." He, no
more than the Indian chieftain, knew he was predicting a task for
Utah's first American governor, and builder of workable Indian
policies. !

From their half-wild horses the Indians traded with Ross and
McKenzie until the whites had 280 horses. Some were hunters, some
pack horses, some good travelers. Indians trained their horses for
specific uses, just as did our cowboys and pioneers.

At the end of September Ross bade his field commander farewell,
and thus McKenzie struck out on his well organized invasion of Utah.
He took, Ross records, fifty-five men, 195 horses, 300 beaver traps,
and "considerable merchandise." But not a pound of food. They
were to subsist off the country. Wild cheers from the thousands of
assembled Indians and all those within Fort Nez Perces arose as
the cavalcade passed out of sight — to the southward, where lay the
Tetons, Bear Lake and the Uintahs.

Anxious days lay ahead for Ross, now in charge at the fort.
He was a white man alone at Walla Walla, as McKenzie was on the
trail to the Bear River valley. Ross hunted for game, conversed with

424 IMPROVEMENT ERA

many tribesmen of many tribes — and scanned the southern horizon
steadily.

At last a faltering Indian, looking more like an animated skeleton
than a human being, came into the fort. He wasi an Iroquois Indian
from Montreal, for the North-west Company imported Christianized
Indians as trained trappers, and used them persistently in the west.

This Iroquois told, perhaps, the story that gave the name
of Pierre's Hole to the present Teton Basin. For Pierre was another
of these Iroquois Indians, and he came to his death six or seven
years later in a massacre of Americans he had joined, probably at
Provo, Utah. Ross records it as being at "the American camp south
of Great Salt Lake," and there, at Provo, we know the largest of
all massacres of trappers in the Utah country occurred, at just the
time old Pierre fell.

"My companions," the Iroquois said, "fell in with a band of
Shoshones and began to exchange horses, guns, and traps with these
people for wives. They joined the Shoshone camp and are doing
nothing to gain beaver. They were a detachment McKenzie left
from the main party. I became disgusted with my companions and
set out to join McKenzie. I lost my way, and was set upon by a
war party. I threw away my pack, killed my horse, and hid in a
stream. After dark I got out of the water and for seven days traveled
without food till I arrived here."

That portended badly for the Utah expedition. The poor
Iroquois, Oskononton, was like many another seeker of the trail
to Utah, destined for brief days only in his quest. A few weeks
later he was killed and scalped by hostiles, while on his way down
the Columbia to Fort George with messages.

Ross sat and worried while winter snows set in. What of
McKenzie? Was everything as bad as Indian rumors set forth?
If so, all was lost. Suddenly his mood changed.

"At this period of our anxiety and declining hopes who should appear,
to remove suspicion and give us new vigor to our proceedings but Mc-
Kenzie himself. He and six men reached Fort Nez Perces on snow shoes, with
their blankets on their backs in good health and spirits, after a tedious
journey of six months."

McKenzie told Ross this story, and we repeat it as the conqueror's
own story of the way Utah first gave of her wealth to white men:

"After leaving this place we directed our course across the Blue Moun-
tains. We had not proceeded far into the country of the Shoshones when the
Iroquois began their old trade of plotting mischief. ,1 left them to work
beaver in the rich little river Skam-naugh. From that place we advanced
for twenty-five days, and then found ourselves in a rich field of beaver
between the great South branch (the Snake river) and the Spanish waters
(upper reaches of -Green river, called by the trappers the Spanish river, since
the Indians told them it ran into Spanish territory.)

"After disposing of my people to the best advantage, trading with the
natives, and securing the different chiefs to our interest, I left my people at
the end of four months. Then taking a circuitous route along the foot

JOSEPH SMITH AND THE GREAT WEST 425

of the Rocky Mountains, a country extremely dreary during a winter voyage,
I reached the headquarters of the Great South branch, regretting every step
I made that we had been so long deprived of the riches of such a country.
Thence steered my course to the river Skam-naugh. * * * We found
but little snow in crossing the Blue Mountains and finished up here a
journey of 600 miles in two months on snow shoes."

McKenzie gave a description of wild life in the Snake River
approach to Utah that even the earliest pioneer settler never saw, so
vigorously did the trappers and hunters work to exterminate game
during the next two decades. Said McKenzie:

"Wherever there was a little plain, the red deer were seen grazing in
herds; where there was a sapling the ingenious and industrious beaver was
at work. Otters sported in the eddies; the wolf and the fox were seen
sauntering in quest of prey; now and then a few cypresses or stunted pines
were met with on the rocky parts, and in their spreading tops the racoon
sat secure. In the woods, the martens and black fox were numerous; the
badger sat quietly looking from his mound ; and the numberless ravines,
among bushes laden with fruits, the black, the brown, and the grizzly bear
were seen. Mountain sheep and goats, white as snow, browsed on the rocks
and ridges; and the big horn species ran among the lofty cliffs. When we
approached most of the animals stood motionless. The report of a gun did
not alarm them. They would give a frisk at each shot, and stand again."

Thus ran the first "Industrial Survey" of the Utah country's
resources, made for men who saw wealth only in furs. No wonder
they went wild to possess it.

In seven days McKenzie was on his way back again to his
hunters — first of the "mountaineers." But this time he was testing
the navigation of the Snake and found he could carry a boat to the
"head of the narrows." He ordered supplies up from his base, in a
letter sent back with the boat from the head of navigation. He would
be along the next June with his mountaineers at the river Skam-naugh,
the river just north of the Boise, flowing from the eastward into
the Snake.

And here Ross dispatched supplies to him, only to have the horses
carrying them fall into the hands of Shoshone thieves. McKenzie,
approaching the rendezvous with his gay band of richly laden Utah
trappers, saw horses he knew belonged to the whites, and gave chase
to their herders. He killed one, captured one, wounded the third,
and rounded up the drove of horses. Driving them before him he
met his relief expedition encamped in the plain and forted up, without
transport. Despair there turned to rejoicing.

"The Snake expedition," records Ross significantly, "turned
out well; it made up for all deficiencies elsewhere and gave a hand*
some surplus besides." You see here was the first wealth from the
Great West in fortune-building proportions.

"It turned out well." The wealth from our Uintah mountains
went by way of the Columbia and the Saskatchewan, the Great Lakes
and the St. Lawrence, to England where it dressed the fine ladies of
the British court, made noted politicians rich, and gave color and

426 IMPROVEMENT ERA

wealth to aristocratic life among the British nabobs of the Fur Trade.
It did more than that. It started rumors afloat in New York
and in St. Louis, — rumors of wealth in the secret passes of the
Uintahs. Should Americans leave this wealth to England? New
Yorkers answered, "No," and St. Louis merchants answered, "No."
The hour of real conflict between English hunters and American
hunters for the Far West was now at hand. How American enter-
prize based itself on the "Mormon" settlement at Independence and
from that outfitting point sought a foothold in the Far West will be
told as the next phase of our story.

Chicago, III.

Ploughed Under

I saw a field of rich, green clover grown,

Its blossoms honey-laden for the bee,
And, turning to the owner who stood by,

I asked him when the harvest time would be.
'"Twill not be gathered in." "How then?" I cried.

"Have yoji no recompense for all your toil?" (
The farmer smiled; he was more wise than I,

"I plough it under to enrich the soil."
And all at once I seemed to sec more clear

Some things that I had tried to comprehend:
Has not the heart, like that broad field, its growths

That never seem to reach their destined end?
Its early dreams that perish unfulfilled?

Its youthful hopes that perish ere their prime?
Its fond affection and its tender love

Borne down to earth before their blossom time?
I mused on these, and as I turned my feet

Back to the city and its swift turmoil,
I smiled and said, in tranquil, sweet content,

"God ploughs them under to enrich the soil."

Aetna, Alberta, Canada. MCfcRONI ALLEN.

Who Knows the Law?

As well might the layman say to the professor of Chemistry that certain
procedure is non-essential to produce a certain result, when that procedure
had been followed, and like results produced until the process has become
an established law, as for man to say to God, who has firmly established
his laws on the results which they bring through obedience to them, that
in some minor parts they are non-essential. Who knows the law? Who
has followed the entire process through, and found the result? God only. —
J. T. Barrett, Murray, Utah. R. 4.

THE RIGHT OF JESUS THE CHRIST TO BE
CALLED MASTER

By Russell L. Hess

Scarcely a day passes that someone does not refer to the teachings
or the ways of "The Master" meaning always Christ Jesus. When
applied to the Savior, the word "Master" has deep significance. It
personifies ,and typifies a nobleness of character, a resoluteness of
purpose, a passion for truth, an unselfish love for humanity, and
a master-craftsmanship, all of which were attributes of the Messiah.
When one studies the life of Jesus in an effort to .discover whether
or not he was really worthy to be called "Master" and whether "or
not his life and work have the earmarkings of mastery, a , mass of
evidence is bared exemplifying beyond question that no man, either
before or since Christ's ministry, has ever shown himself more worthy
of the title of "Master."

During the whole life of the Savior there was never an act on
his part that did not reveal his .complete mastery of himself on all
occasions. True, he showed on one occasion in the Garden of
Gethsemane, that after all he- had his human side which cropped out
when he, praying, said: "O my Father, if it be possible, let this
cup pass from me;" but, then, in the same breath he recovered his
self-mastery and added, "nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Each of the four Gospels is a strong witness that Christ on every
occasion met each seeming difficulty with absolute confidence that
he and his disciples could rise to and dominate any situation.

The temper and the character of Scribes and Pharisees alike were
only too well known and understood by the Messiah. Whatever
their accusations against him and however much they scourged and
denied him, he showed remarkable self-mastery and had always ready
an answer to their comdemnations and a most remarkable patience
and fortitude to endure the suffering they caused him.

It required an almost endless amount of foresight, precision,
understanding of the human mind and its limitations and weaknesses,
and an all-abiding faith in the goodness of right, justice, and God, in
order for the Savior to batter down the skepticism, the discourage-
ments with which his disciples were beset. Recall how , on the sea,
troubled by storms and winds, when the disciples grew fearful of the
storm, Christ appeared among them, bade them fear nothing and
commanded the sea and the winds to be still. The Savior calmed the
fears of his apostles knowing he was able to control the situation
and that by the proper application of the power of mastery he could
overcome a storm that struck terror to those who, less capable of
understanding than he, could not throw off carnal weaknesses long

428 IMPROVEMENT ERA

enough to realize that harm could not come to them if they exercised
an all-abiding trust in the protective power of God.

At prayer, as Satan appeared and sought to tempt the Messiah,
the Savior was once more able to show his absolute control of himself
and to declare, "Get thee behind me, Satan." In the Garden of
Gethsemane, while in the throes of agony, Jesus was still able to
reveal his dominance of every situation; and when Peter smote off
the ear of the soldier of the high priest it was Jesus who restored the
ear in perfect working order and showed the greatest composure and
sejlf-possession of all that were gathered within the garden. Before
Pilate, Jesus maintained a masterly silence and calm. Never did he
show himself disconcerted when being mocked, tried, and scourged
by his accusers. Job had suffered and cried out against his oppressors
and complained of his lot, showing himself always hedged about with
weaknesses; but Jesus the Christ through all his agony and bodily
suffering never weakened so much that he could not exclaim before
the end, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!"

To us who have followed after him and embraced his teachings,
Christ Jesus hag ever represented the highest type of manhood, whose
great charity, love, sympathy, patience in suffering, and faith in
right triumphing over might," we have all wished at some time to be
able to emulate. From birth to death and resurrection the Savior ran
the gamut of human endurance, and, at the time of the ascension, he
reentered God's fold truly a Master in all that the word signifies.
Logan, Utah.

To A Worthy Widower

The throbbing pulse of loving hearts

Beats on through time and space;
The hope that's born of noble deeds,

Death's pangs cannot erase.

Each act of kindness and of love

Assures us Death's an "angel form"

That comes to free our kin from pain,
And take them from the scene of storm.

No matter what our creed may be,

The force of instinct calls aloud;
And, with it's power -enforced with love,

Removes the darkness from the cloud.

So let us live and trust in Him

Who wrote within our breast
The sweetest song that's e'er been sung:

The song of hope and rest.
Blacktoot, Idaho. GEO. E. GlBBY.

THE LITERAL WORD OF GOD
How the Payment of Tithing Turned to a Blessing

By Ellen L. Jakeman

The personal "I" is as offensive to me, as a writer, as it undoubt-
edly is to publishers and readers, but in this instance I must needs use it.

In March following the armistice I went from Provo to Arizona
tc engage in the dairy business with a brother-in-law, already located
there. I did not anticipate making money in the enterprise, but went
for reasons that seemed good and sufficient.

I bought one thousand dollars' worth of dairy cows and added
them to the stock already on the place, a dry-ranch, six miles north
of Douglas, secured quite an expensive equipment, built about two
miles of new fence, together with concrete corrals, drinking vats, etc.

After the armistice the bottom dropped out of business sooner,
perhaps, in Douglas than in other localities; for the one great industry
that kept things going was copper. The various other business enter-
prises for miles around grew out of it, and were dependent upon it.

The mines and smelters shut down, throwing hundreds of people
out of work, for with the signing of the armistice all copper contracts
were cancelled.

We lost our customers, twenty and thirty a day, and every day,
and saw them leave by rail, by team, by such nondescript conveyances
as not even the early pioneers had to put up with. They went on
foot, whole families, seeking a place where they might earn bread, and
so far as business was concerned, the place was about dead.

To our dismay we found ourselves without a market and without
much means, feeding fancy stock that demanded the most careful hand-
ling; figuratively, out of a paper sack. There was no range that year,
the purpose for which I came failed, and my health gave way, and when
I got a chance to sell the cows, I did so gladly. My young stock, equip-
ment, pigs, etc., were sold by my brother-in-law, on the best terms he
could get for me, and I secured payment on the larger amounts with
written agreements for periodical payments to be made at the local bank.
Had he been able to stay and make collections all would, no doubt,
have been well; but he had a family, and had to go where he could
get work at once.

The money for the cows, with hopeful optimism, I re-invested
in the lost cause, so it was not available. I removed to Douglas,
was made president of the Relief Society, which became my vocation,
and took up the collection of those debts as an avocation.

It will not require a brilliant imagination to perceive how hope-
less the situation was!

For the most part, the stuff, amounting to hundreds of dollars,
had been sold to Mexicans, who had only to cross a chalk mark a

430 IMPROVEMENT ERA

mile south to be in a foreign country, and immune from collections.
My brother-in-law knew these hombres personally, knew their finan-
cial standing, talked their language fluently, and they could not have
evaded him, and when located I could talk business to them only
through an interpreter.

Everybody was feeling the pressure of hard times, but a few of
my debtors came to the bank and made good their word/ the first
month, and I managed to get the most of the monthly payments on
those not so secured, by hiring an auto, taking a justice of the peace
with me as an interpreter and paying him 10% of the collections
we made.

Month after month these collections grew smaller, till I was not
getting enough to pay my running expenses, when il wanted it all so
I could go home and work in the temple.

Picking up a Doctrine and Covenants one evening to prepare a
class lesson, the book opened itself at the revelation on tithing, and I
began to read. Never had it been so 'clear to me! Never so vital
and understandable. Why the Lord had said for his people to try him!
To put him to a test, and see if he would not keep his generous word!
It sounded so personal, — somewhat like he were offering me individ-
ually a partnership, in which he was to give everything and I was to re-
tain nine-tenths of the proceeds! I felt like he were really talking to me,
instead of I reading the printed word, often read before. I was
so impressed that I knelt down and called my heavenly Father's at-
tention to my helplessness, to the almost hopelessness of the situation.
I told him what I wanted, and why; that I believed his word with
all my heart, and to prove it to him, I would pay tithing on all those
doubtful debts with precious money already in my possession, and trust
him that in some way I should be able to collect those outstanding
accounts.

That was the 15th of March, 1922. I had been at the ranch
fourteen months, and in the city of Douglas about eight months.

That night I made a list of all that was coming to me on those
accounts, and it looked very small when I thought of what I needed
to do with it; but the tenth, when I drew my check for the tithing,
seemed immense.

The next morning I went to Presiding Elder L , and

said:

"Brother, I want to pay tithing on all accounts I have been
unable so far to collect."

"Say, Sister, I don't understand the law of tithing that way.
You don't owe it till you've collected it! I suppose what you have
been paying is in full on your collections?"

"Yes, it is in full on my collections; but is there any law for-
bidding me to pay in advance of my collections?"

"Well I don't know of any law, but if you think by paying ad-
vance tithing you can hold the Lord responsible for those very doubt-
ful contracts, you've made a mistake. I don't want to take tithing

THE LITERAL WORD OF GOD 43 1

on them. If you live up to the law that will be doing pretty well," he
said dryly. He probably thought I was too enthusiastic and might,
later, regret my generous impulse, and it would place him in a very
awkward position.

"I promise you, brother, that whatever happens, I won't let it
hurt my faith, if that's what you're afraid of; but I really wish to
pay on those debts today, and it will be between me and the Lord."

Rather hesitatingly, and dubiously, Brother L received

my check, and receipted me for it, admonishing me again that I must
not count on God doing a thing like that for me.

I replied to all his good, common-sense lectures by saying:

"I can't imagine how he possibly could do it, but I know that if
he wishes to he can; and if he doesn't, he has a good and sufficient
reason for not doing it, and no blame shall attach to you, either."

The next day, "the 1 6th of March, a particularly nasty, dusty and
windy day, I went out collecting, took a lawyer with mc as interpreter
and, knowing just z little Spanish, think I detected him telling one
reluctant Mexican that, for a fee, he would tell him how to evade
future payments. On the 1 7th, I went alone and did not collect
a dollar.

Because these dates were collection days, I had left the details of
the annual celebration of the organization of the Relief Society, to mv
assistants, and, being unfamiliar with it in detail, began the evening
program, as chairman, by making two mistakes. I tried to get first
one and then the other of my counselors to take charge, but one had a
troublesome baby and the other was far too timid.

I had found the easiest way to get forgiveness for short-comings
was to confess them; so I gave my alibi to the entire assembly. I told
them frankly that I had been out for the past two days trying to make
collections, had not collected a dollar, and was not up to my usual
form. I asked them all to feel at liberty to suggest or correct me, that
nothing might be done or left undone to mar the good time for
which we had met together.

There was an immediate and whole-souled response, and all went
well. When supper time arrived, served picnic style, a brother, a new
member of our ward, and a new citizen of the town, brought his plate
and sat down and asked me about the collections I had spoken of, and
I explained. When I had finished he remarked:

"You know I am here to take charge of the

establishment, don't you?"

'•'No, I had not heard it," I answered.

"Well, I have a proposition to make to you. Get your accounts
into shape, and I'll collect them for you through the store. I think I
know human nature pretty well, especially Mexican human nature.
To stand well with the superintendent of the best and cheapest store in
Douglas, they will pay your bills when I present them, without a
protest."

"And what will your fee be?"

43 2 IMPROVEMENT ERA

"It won't cost you a cent. I won't use company time, and
besides it will give me a line on a lot of people. So far as those bills
are concerned, you can go home tomorrow."

In handling my papers to brother S the next day,

I said:

"The times are hard; get it all, if you can, for I will need it, but
do not oppress anyone. Give time where it is needed and use your
own judgment."

It was the 18th of March, if I remember correctly, when I turned
my accounts over to him, and I landed in Salt Lake City on the 26th,
so swiftly did things move for me. He was three years' making those
collections, and they reached me in varying sums, semi-occasionally, al-
ways seeming to be just when it was most needed, — and he collected
it all. »

I promised myself that I would report to Brother L

how my tithing paying turned out, and I happen to know he reads
your publication; but I very greatly desire to acknowledge to my
heavenly Father that I fully realize that He kept faith with me.

How It Works

Both the narcotic effect of tobacco and the fact that the habit is
not creditable often leads to such results as related in the following story:

During the recent war at one of the Western Cantonments, a Utah boy,
a private, sought promotion in the army. So often had he applied with
unfavorable results that one day he went to his company commander, deter-
mined to know the reason. The following conversation ensued:

Youth: "I want to know why it is that I am constantly overlooked,
while others are promoted over my head all the time?"

Officer: "Do you really want to know?"

Youth: "Yes, sir, I do."

Officer: "Well, then, I'll tell you. You're a 'Mormon,' aren't you?"

Youth: "Yes, sir, I am, and I'm not ashamed of it!"

Officer: "I understand that your Church has a rule against the use
of tobacco. Is that right?"

Youth: "Yes, sir, it is."

Officer: "Do you keep that rule?"

Youth: "No, sir, I don't because I- — •"

Officer: "Never mind the reason. And your Church has another
rule against gambling, hasn't it?"

Youth: "But I don't gamble, sir!"

Officer: "You do; because I saw you at it not a half-hour ago!
And another rule of your Church, I take it, is against lying — a rule which
you also break, it seems. Qualities in an officer are courage and obedience to
rules. You possess neither. If your parents and your Church haven't been
able in twenty-five years to make a man out of you, Uncle Sam can't do
it in two years! Goodbv."

MEANING OF THE WORD "MORMON"

By J. M. Sjodahl

The prophet Joseph, in a letter published in the Times and Sea-
sons, Nauvoo, May 15, 1843,* furnished the following explanation
concerning the meaning of this word:

"It has been stated that this word was derived from the Greek word
mormo. This is not the case. There was no Greek or Latin upon the
plates from which I, through the grace of the Lord, translated the Book
of Mormon."

Then he quotes from the Book of Mormon (Morm. 9:32-34),
where we are told that the characters used were the "reformed Egyp-
tian." He continues:

"Here, then, the subject is put to silence, for 'none other people
knoweth our language;' therefore, the Lord, and not man, had to interpret,
after the people were all dead. And as Paul said, The world by wisdom
know not God;' so the world by speculation are destitute of revelation; and
as God, in his superior wisdom, has always given (his Saints, whenever
he had any on the earth, the same spirit, and that spirit, as John says, is the
true spirit of prophecy, which is the testimony of Jesus, ,1 may safely say
that the word Mormon stands independent of the learning and wisdom
of this generation.

"Before I give a definition, however, of the word, let me say that the
Bible, in its widest sense, means good; for the Savior says, according to the
Gospel of John, 'I am the Good Shepherd;' and it will not be beyond
the common use of terms to say that Good is among the most important
in use, and, though known by various names an different languages, still
its meaning is the same, and is ever in opposition to bad."

The Prophet, further says:

"We say, from the Saxon, good; from the Dane, god; the Goth, goda;
the German, gut; the Dutch, goed; the Latin, bonus; the Greek, kalos; the
Hebrew, tob, and the Egyptian, won. Hence, with the addition of more,
or the contraction, mot, we have the word Mormon, which means literally,
more good."

Here we have the interesting information that the first part of the
word is an abbreviation of the English adverb "more," and that the
second part is the Egyptian adjective "mon." In other words, the
Prophet found, on the plates, as a proper noun, a compound word
meaning, literally, "better," and, under the influence of the Holy
Spirit, he solved the problem bf transliterating it, by translating the
first part into English and copying the second part, and making one
word of the two, half English and half Egyptian. This, I admit, is
an unusual literary procedure, but we have an instance of it in our
Bible, where a place called Maaleh-acrabbim (Josh. 15:3) is also called,

*The letter was revised by the Prophet, May 20, 1843. See the
documentary History of the Church, under that date.

434 IMPROVEMENT ERA

"The Ascent of Akrabbim," (Numb. 34:4) . Here half of the name is
translated into English and the other half is a foreign word. See also
Gen. 23:2 and 35:27, where Hebron is called, in the first passage,
Kirjath-Arba, and in the second, "The City of Arbah," the first half
of the name being translated into English and the second being left
untranslated.* This, then, is how the word Mormon originated.

And it means "more good;" that is, "Better."

The reference of the Prophet, in this connection, to the Bible
would indicate that the good expressed in the word is the same as that
which we call "good news," or "gospel," and that "Mormon," there-
fore, means one who is the bearer of "good tidings."

It is a very interesting fact that many American languages, perhaps
most of them, form their comparatives and superlatives by the use of
the adverbs "more" and "most." In the Aztec, "better" is ocachiqualli,
which means, literally, "more good." In the Otomi language "better"
is nra nho, which means "more good." In the Maya, the comparative
is formed by affixing the last vowel of the adjective with an "1" added,
or by simply affixing the particle il. For instance, from tibil, a "good
thing," u tibil-il, a "better thing" is, formed.!

May we not ask, "What is the explanation of the singular fact
that the prophet Joseph seems to have had knowledge of how com-
paratives are formed in some of the principal American languages?

*The familiar word Iroquois may, possibly, be another instance of
this kind of word-building. The orators of that stock of Indians used
to close their speeches by saying, Hiro, "I have spoken," very much as the
Romans said, Dixi. Their sentinels had a cry of warning which sounded,
to the French, something like quai. Out of these two words and a French
ending, ois, the name Iroquois was composed.

It is probable that the mon in "Mormon" is akin to the mon or men
in the Egyptian Amon or Amen. Dr E. A- Wallis Budge, (The Gods
of the Egyptians, Vol. 2, p. 2) says that Amen is from a root men "to abide,
to be permanent, eternal." Mon or men (the vowel is different) would,
then, mean "good" in the sense of "permanency," just 'as nefer means
"good" in the sense of physical beauty. I gather this from wha:t Cham-
pollion (Precis du Systeme Hieroglyphique des Anciens Egyptiens, p 91)
on the authority of Eusebius says, viz., that the divinity which takes the
name Amen and Kneph or Noub, alternatively, was by the Greeks called
Agathodaimon, and that Nero, when assuming a divine title, called himself
Neo-agathodaimon. Agathos is, of course, the Greek word for "good," and
it must have been suggested by the Egyptian men or mon.

tSee Bancroft, Native Races, Vol. 3, pp. 733, 739. In the Egyptian,
it seems, adjectives are without degrees of comparison, but the particle er,
meaning "to," "with," "between," etc., in various combinations, was used
to express degrees of superiority, very much as the Hebrew "min." For
instance, "She was fair (good) in her body, more than (er) other women,"
means, of course, that she was fairer — more good — than the rest. "Good is
hearkening, more than anything," or, hearkening is more good, means "To
obey is best of all." Good in these sentences is the word nefer, but there is
a verb, wench, "to do good," "to abide," and that may be akin to the
"mon" in the name Mormon.

CHARACTER EDUCATION THROUGH
LITERATURE

Literature and its Relationship to Character Formation

By Chas. E. Soelberg, Principal Hawthorne School

We are essentially the sum total of our responses to situations.
We cannot avoid meeting situations, but we can, through careful
guidance, select, to a certain degree, at least the type of situations we
are going to encounter; and the nature of the situation has a great deal
to do with the response that is made. This, in my judgment, is liter-
ature's greatest contribution to character development. The habitual
reading of properly selected literature, for the primary reason of im-
mediate enjoyment, furnishes wholesome, vicarious situations that can-
not possibly be acquired in any other way, and which must call forth
desirable response. Life is so short and our means so limited that if we
were to depend solely upon actual experiences and situations for our
development we would be at a great loss. But through the medium of
literature we can spend an evening in a real heart to heart talk with
the great men and women of the ages, as well as with those of modern
times. We have the privilege of studying the beauties of nature and
the lessons she teaches us through the eyes of experts in this particular
field. Our attention is called to the beauties of the commonplace,
and to the things that would otherwise have gone unheeded. It is
said of President Roosevelt that he could walk for an hour or two into
the country and be able to write a book upon the things nature had
taught him in this short time. To do this one must know nature, and
to know nature will inevitably produce a love for her.

To love humanity, in my judgment, is to know humanity. This
brings in the second great field that is exposed to the readers of
literature, "human nature."

Literature is the heart of man speaking to the hearts of others. It
is psychology and philosophy set to the music of the soul, and is
valuable only to the extent that it calls forth a similar response from us.
Take, for example, Silas Marnet. What a psychological effect upon the
soul of the adolescent boy or girl the elements of gratitude, envy,
jealousy, vengeance, shame, pity, love and tenderness, must have, if
read voluntarily, and for the sole purpose of enjoyment. Goethe's
"Sorrows of Werther" is filled with fundamental and psychological
truths. In the climax, after describing a girl who has been driven
to despair, he says, "Shame upon him who can look on calmly and
exclaim, 'The foolish girl! She should have waited; she should have
allowed time to wear off the impression; her despair would have been
softened, and she would have found another lover to comfort her.'

"One might as well say, 'The fool, to die from a fever!. Why
did he not wait until his strength was restored, till his blood be-

43 6 IMPROVEMENT ERA

came calm? All would then have gone well, and he would have been
alive now.'" The author shows very plainly in the above quotation
that the human mind works under certain laws just as truly as does
the physical body. In Pippa Passes, the author shows the power of
unconscious suggestion. Browning's The Ring and The Book, is an
application of the laws of appreciation. Munsterberg's On The Wit-
ness Stand shows that it is not always possible to tell the truth even
when an honest effort is made to do so.

Our ideals are our beacon lights; they are to the soul what the
lighthouse is to the pilot of a ship on a dark and stormy night. But
as our once cherished ideals are realized, higher and nobler ones must
be created. Thorvaldsen, the famous Danish sculptor, emphasized
this very forcefully, at the time of unveiling his masterpiece, Christ. It
is said that he wept as he gazed upon hisi wonderful piece of art,
and, when asked why he wept, replied, "My genius is failing, this is
the first of my works that I have ever been satisfied with." One's
ideals should be in advance of his achievements. Literature, as
Smith says, "Can always keep before us the vision of the ideal." Its
characters are idealistic, and in this respect are ever a challenge to the
best that is within us. I

It would not be amiss, then, to say: "A knowledge and love of
nature, and human nature, as given to us from the heart of the choicest
literary authors, would be a very potent factor in the moulding of our
character?" Would it tend to make habitual one's disposition to
choose those modes of behavior which must do honor to human
dignity? My answer would be, "Yes."

Other things being equal, the strength of a given situation, and
its corresponding response, is in direct preparation to the frequency
with which it occurs. Accepting this as a justification, I should try to
make the reading of properly selected literature habitual, especially
with the adolescent children, because at this age the average child has
much leisure time, which, if properly used, will be the most profitable
period; but, if not properly used, may be the most damnable period for
character development in the child's life, due to the physiological
and psychological changes the child is undergoing.

There are a few fundamentals that should guide in the method
of teaching literature. It is my opinion that the primary objective
in reading should be for immediate and genuine satisfaction of the
pupils. Secondary to this is the problem of leading these pupils into
habits of reading, and developing in them tastes for literature of a
wholesome character. If literature is to give immediate satisfaction,
the books selected must satisfy the varied interests of the children. This
does not mean that the teacher should cater to the whims of the pupils,
but children will readily find genuine interest in a great variety of
types of literature, if they are only made acquainted with that variety
of reading. The teacher must expect a variety of interpretations, be-
cause, as Philips says, "An interpretation must be felt, and not accepted
as authority without inner appreciation." This inner appreciation is

CHARACTER EDUCATION 43 7

limited, very largely, by the individual's intellectual and emotional
development. Hence our own interpretation of "Hamlet" might have
been very much different at different periods of our life; yet each in-
terpretation being the proper one at that time.

"Literature," says Carlyle, "is the innermost part of a man's
soul speaking, and differs altogether from what is uttered by the
outermost."

I think therein lies the success or failure of teaching literature in our
schools and organizations. If we try to appreciate what is said by
the innermost part of man from an outer interpretation, we are sure
to fail.

Salt Lake City

A Dream

(Allegorical)

Year after year, in garden fair,
A woman worked with utmost care
Rearing and gathering fragrant flowers,
From rise of sun, until twilight hours
Proclaimed the end of day.

Like many who passed the garden by,
I saw the woman and wondered why
She should be given a task so light,
While others must toil from morn till night,
To earn their daily bread.

And, she reading my questioning eyes,
Unlatched the gate, — "Come, realize
The beauty of my work," said she,
As she opened the portal wide for me
To enter her domain.

I marveled much at the wondrous place,
And more as I studied the woman's face;
Tho' glorified by a joy most rare,
It bore the deep imprint of care
Upon the lofty brow.

In her wake, I followed silently,
Save when she addressed a word to me:
"In this garden there is much work to do,"
Said she, "that is all unknown to you.
Who dwell not here each day."

Not from menial tasks did the woman turn,
Nor the smallest detail did she spurn,
To aid her garden to yield it's best,
Tho' oft her hands a sharp thorn pressed,
That rent the tender flesh.

I wakened, I had dreaming been,
How good God is, I thought, and then
I asked Him to give unto me
The power to crown with dignity,

My work, whate'er that work might me.

Provo, Utah. GRACE INGLES FROST.

THIRD INTERNATIONAL BOYS' WORK
CONFERENCE

Held at Edgewater Beach Hotel, Chicago, 111., Nov. 30,
Dec. 1 and 2, 1926

By Oscar A. Kirkham, Associate Regional Executive,
Region 12, B. S. A.

There were 3 7 different agencies interested in Boys' Welfare
Work from the United States, Canada, and England, with a total
representation present of 530 delegates. The International service
clubs, Rotary, Kiwanis, Lion's, Exchange, Optimists, etc., had delegates
to the conference, these men taking a prominent part in the different
sessions.

In discussing the enforcement of law, Dr. Mann of Chicago said
that one of the contributing factors to the non-enforcement was the
"carelessness of the rich; they have their choice as to the laws which
they will break, so the boy makes his choice as to which he breaks."

"You give a good boy nothing to do, and he will not be good
long. — You give the bad boy something good to do, and he will not
be bad long."

An earnest appeal was made for a devotional period to come again
in the life of the American home, as experience has taught that this
has been a great contributing factor to the spiritual life of our people.
Also that there should be, in some way, spiritual training, associated
with the school-life of the boys and girls of America. Some of the dif-
ficulties given in this field which were handicapping the spiritual lives
of the boys were:

1. Lack of cultural back ground.

2. Church not functioning.

3. Home not functioning, and lack of devotional period.

4. Lack of spiritual training in school.

5. The over emphasis of the mechanical theory of life.

6. The exploitation of leisure time.

7. Lack of adequate leadership.

8. Inadequacy of religious instruction.

In a test taken by parents and boys to find out the greatest in-
fluences operating on the lives of boys, the following was given:

1 . Parents.

2. Gangs and conferences.

3. Sunday school teacher and club leader.

4. School.

The way out was suggested by:

1. Better theological training.

2. Proper interpretation of spirituality.

INTERNATIONAL BOYS' WORK CONFERENCE

439

3. More frequent conferences of and with boys in which they them-
selves participate.

4. Faith in God.

In speaking about the boys' recreation, Dr. Nash of the Univer-
sity of New York said, that gradually the better centers of the United

JO MUNKAT!

(Good work.) The trunk of Hungary is broken,
building new branches.

Scouts

States were conducting an out-door and an in-door recreation program
for all boys of all ages for twelve months of the year.

In Milwaukee, the police have a note hook and direct boys
from streets to places provided by the city for recreation.

There were 252,000 children killed last year on the streets in the
United States. We must have more public, supervised playgrounds. In
some places, streets are roped off at certain hours. This method, how-
ever, is questioned, as children are often found playing after the super-
vised and restricted period is passed.

440

IMPROVEMENT ERA

A real leader who does not know something of the recreation
program of boys and girls is lost.

Life has been speeded up — society hasn't been able to keep up.

We have been sacrificing some of our old fundamentals.

An excellent book, entitled The Drifting Home, By Ernest R.
Groves, was suggested.

Apennines Mts., Italy

Ulban LaVerna fele

Hungarian scouts visiting Italy

I can think of no more apt statement about the necessity for
interest and leadership today in this great question than to quote from
a poem: ,

"Where are the men to lend a hand?

Echo it far and wide;
Men who will rise in every land

Bridging the Great Divide.

"Nation and Flag and Tongue unite

Joining each class and creed,
Here are the boys who would do right,

But where are the men to lead?"

ABOUT MOVIES

"HI SPOTS" from address given by Nelson Green, editor without pay, of
the magazine Educational Screen

How to secure better movies:

Improvement must come from the few who think. * * * Ninety
per cent will buy any kind that is put up — the ten per cent can make the
improvement. They must work, and can be worked upon. * * * 130
million people paid admittance per week to the movies in the United States.

We will all see the day when we can "plug in" a socket and see a
movie at home. * * * The reform of the movie cannot go into

INTERNATIONAL BOYS' WORK CONFERENCE 441

legislation — it is then into politics. It must be accomplished through an
educational program.

Ninety per cent who go have the habit — they must have their emotional
food.

Some of the evil effects are the imitations whch follow bad displays.

* * * Imitation is strong in the child. * * * The movie de-
tracts from school work. * * * Arouses the sex impulse in the im-
mature. * * * Children now two years old are subjected to sex im-
pulses. * * * All sacredness has gone — the kiss must now be violent.

* " * * In Japan, a censorship was made on movie productions in which
3,250 kisses were left out in one year. * * * Thrills and suggestions
are the major stimulation.

We must know what films are before we let our children see them.
The name is not always a guide, for the picture called The Ruling Passion is
an excellent movie. * * * We cannot depend upon artists any longer.

The way out:

The Educational Screen is the best paper. The National Women's
Federative Club, and other large National agencies are behind it. They
publish a list monthly and advise as to the fitness of movies for adults,
youths and children. Their list is about 50 movies each month.

The committee judging movies are scattered throughout the nation.
Most of them, however, in large centers where "first runs" are made.

The committee is composed of leading men and women in the United
States who have been persuaded to do this work without pay. Their names
are not published but as soon as they have reviewed a picture, they mail
their reviews to the Educational Screen Magazine, and their opinions are sent
out over the country.

HOW TO MAKE YOUTH BETTER, FINER CITIZENS.

Judge Benjamin F. Jones, in addressing the Conference, said:

"It is not surprising that youth refuses to follow the instructions of
those who spend their time telling others how they should act, while they
themselves do the very things and commit the very offenses they are de-
nouncing by word of mouth. How can we hope to have children respect
law and live clean lives when their parents violate the law and moral code
whenever it suits their convenience?

"There is only one way in which juvenile crime can be checked and the
youth of this country developed into finer, cleaner, better citizens, and that
is by the grown-ups of our country living in such a way as to inspire the
respect and confidence of the on-coming generation. Youth must be taught
not alone by precept, but by example."

Leading speakers dwelt on the need of clean reading. News-
papers and magazines have a tremendous responsibility in educating
their readers, and ought to fulfil it properly. Boys should be convinced
that there is sure retribution for all wrong doing whether the punish-
ment comes slowly or swiftly. The policy of emphasizing stories of
achievement, good things, and telling the constructive story of man-
kind's progress, was stressed as having a beneficial influence in character-
building for boys and also for all others.

FEAR

By A. Henderson

Monahan Currie slumped lower in the seat of his Ford as the
sound of noisy laughter came nearer.

"Ha, ha, the country boob should have been at home milking
cows, instead of trying to blubber out an argument."

"Make a better backwoodsman, more of a log than a lawyer."

"Ha, ha, the judge sat on him hard — dismissed the case before
it was well started."

"Seemed to lose his head completely. He did look ridiculous,
he, he, he!"

The two men climbed into their car, somewhere in the rear end of
Monahan's Ford, but the purr of their engine did not altogether drown
the sound of laughter as the car pulled away.

Monahan raised in his seat and gave his starter a savage stamp.
His face was scarlet, his lips quivered weakly as he backed away.

"Yell-ow, yell-ow," his motor ground out, as he drove recklessly
along. "Yell-ow, yell-"

"Darn, darn the luck," he almost sobbed, and lifted one hand
from the wheel to wipe the moisture from his eyes. "I thought I
had more spunk than to let the other lawyers befuddle me like that!
Oh, for the way my voice failed me! I squawked like a sick gander."

"Fail-ed — fail-ed," spelled his motor.

"Not in me, that's all! I'm a poor coward, and done for!"

He was out on a country road now, and speeding past wooded
lands. He turned a corner dizzily and almost ran into a girl on
horseback.

"Careful, there," she called excitedly; then, recognizing the oc-
cupant of the car, she added, "You poor flunk!"

Monahan stopped his car so suddenly that it pitched him forward
in his seat.

"Were you — er — were you — ?"

"Certainly I was in the court room," sharply.

"But, see here, Mildred, I had stage fright — that's all, dear! I — "

The bitter expression in her face checked his words. She averted
her head and sat storing at nothing in particular. For a long moment
Monahan watched her in silence, taking in the fine line of cheek and
throat, the full bosom, the capable hands that held the bridle reins in a
sure grip, the dignified, almost haughty, bearing of her body. Yes,
she would have made a fitting wife to grace the home of the great
lawyer he had intended to be — but now — even so, he could not bear
to give her up. A sudden illuminating thought found voice.

"Mildred, the man you promised to marry and the one who
failed so miserably this morning, is one. If you loved me then, surely

FEAR 443

you can overlook this; anyhow," desperately, "say good-bye to me
before I leave."

"Leave?"

"I cannot stand up here now. I'll have to go away — from the
jeers, and begin anew."

"But you've already begun; why back down now?" scornfully.

"But — such a beginning — I- — it would be easier to start elsewhere.
Understand, dear?"

The girl's face flushed hotly, then whitened to hardness.

"Yes, I understand, perfectly. You're too big a coward to make
another try. And I — I hate cowards!"

Monahan watched horse and rider disappear in the west; then
slowly, mechanically, started his Ford.

5JC SjJ Jp <f!

"Superstition and fear were fed to me, along wid me 'taters
and buttermilk," Samuel Currie muttered to himself as he lounged in
a rocker on his porch.

A frolicsome breeze flicked away the newspaper that he had
spread over his face to keep the flies from disturbing his noon-day nap,
and he made a hasty grab to recover it. As he stood up, the waters
of Deep lake met his gaze, they were sparkling in the warm sun, yet
Samuel shuddered as if an icy breath from their depths had struck
him. He was thinking of the time he had watched his friend Jerry's
head disappear beneath their surface, and fear had laid hold of him
with such relentless hands of iron, that he had been unable to move to
his aid. But another, and less powerful swimmer, had arrived on the
scene in time to hear Jerry's last despairing cry, had plunged in to
rescue, while he had hidden, cowering, in a tangle of bushes on the
shore.

Back in old Ireland, he had enquired about the curling vapor that
arose from the bog. "It's the divil reachin' to drag ye in," said
his grandmother. ■

When passing a graveyard, he had been told by her that the ghosts
of the dead walk by moonlight, and his own following shadow had
sent him, screaming in fear, home to his mother.

Tales of goblins and evil spirits "that are the black shadows of the
night" caused him to fear to venture out -of-doors after sunset.
Even now, a man of forty-nine years of age, and the father of the stal-
wart son, he disliked shadows and silence. But his recently found
faith in his heavenly Father was gradually strengthening his weak
nerve, and vanquishing childish fears.

He had determined that Monahan, the son to whom his wife had
given her maiden name, should grow up devoid of the foolish fears
and superstitions that had been his bane. He had done his level best
toward training him, and yet was not certain of results.

Samuel awoke with a start, his wife stood in the doorway.
"Sam'l, will ye hitch old Sally to the buggy? I've a notion to drive
to the postoffice. There may be a letter from Monahan."

444 IMPROVEMENT ERA

"Werra-good, Martha, and I want ye to bring me some nails
from the store."

The road to the village ran along the eastern shore of Deep
lake, then reared suddenly into the highway. Old Sally — from long
habit — edged cautiously to the extreme right, to avoid the many rush-
ing motors gay with youth and camp paraphernalia. The Deep lake
tourists were going cityward. Martha was glad of this, for the "care-
less, joy-mad crowd never could learn to think of others long enough
to remain to stamp out a match or make sure the camp-fire logs were
free from sparks," she thought.

Martha tore open the envelope and read its contents ere she left
the post office.

"Coming home! My darlin' son."

Back in the buggy, she urged old Sally into an unwilling trot.
But when she turned into the rough lake road, doubts began to
assail her. Why was Monahan coming home — now? She carried her
fears to Samuel.

"There was the big case he wrote about! Well, maybe it tired
him out."

"But, Sam'l, success don't tire a body."

Her husband gave her an uneasy glance. Had she read his
doubting thoughts? "Of course, he'd win. He's just comin' home
to boast to us, or something."

By noon the next day, Monahan had arrived. There was a
lagging to (his footsteps, a shrinking in his glance, a reluctant halt
in his speech.

Samuel, with gripping fear in his soul, noticed that his son did
not once meet his eyes. He had imagined him returning with a
heart as free from fear of his fellow-men as a tough pine knot. And
here he was with a weakness showing in every movement, and he six
feet tall!

"Well," the mother began after a painful silence, "its a fine
thing for a country lad to be able to out-argue them city lawyers."

"Is it? Yes, I — " Monahan stammered and was silent.

"How long can ye be abidin' home wid us, Monahan?" asked
his father.

"Er — well — long enough to locate a place for a fresh start."
"Monahan!" his father cried in sickening realization. But the

mother put a tired arm about the sagging shoulders. "Ye lost out,

Monahan?"

"Yes." His voice was a wail.

His mother's arm tightened. "Now, now, niver ye mind, dearie."

But Samuel wanted the details, and Monahan gave them in a

bitter tone.

"Ye must not back down, son."

"What else is left to do? But I may make good elsewhere."

"No, ye must fight on the battlefield of your own makin', son."

FEAR 445

"I can — not — I," the stalwart lawyer bowed his head in abject
misery.

$ afs $ sfc $

Monahan put on his father's overalls and helped him with the
farm work. He milked the cows for his mother, and worked in the
garden every evening. He seemed to his parents to be tireless. Or,
was he overworking his body in an effort to ease his mind? They
were glad to have him home; yet they waited for his going. Then
suddenly in the night, he disappeared, leaving a note: "Gone to find
work. Do not worry. — Monahan."

But instinctively both knew that he had also gone to find himself.
Summer days ripened into Autumn, still the air was dry and oppressive.
The pine trees by the lake looked listless, as they slowly swayed
before the wind that had sprung up, bearing with it the aroma of
burning pine wood.

"Still some campers remaining," thought Samuel. But Martha
said that the glow in the west was not the red of the setting sun:
"looks like flame," she finished soberly.

"Nothing to be afraid of," her husband chided gently. But
Martha noticed he did not go to the fields, but remained puttering
about the barn.

Presently Martha called in alarm: "Sam'l, the birds and rabbits
are comin' from the forest!" Even as she spoke .be cattle came
lowing into the barn yard.

"Its a fire in the forest," Samuel said excitedly. "But its not.
likely to come around this neck of the lake. It's as well, though,
to be prepared." He ran to the big wind mill, released the lever, and
it began to pump water into the huge tank. The wind was rising,
the branches of the pines bent wildly, there was a crackling, sweeping
sound in the smoke-laden air, and the day was as dark as twilight.

The mother thought first of her son: "Well, I'm glad John
Stevens happened to tell us that he saw Monahan in Overton yester-
day."

"Monahan! Yes, he'll be safe there."

"And we'll bide by the house, Sam'l?"

"Yes, 'tis best — the clearing is wide — and — there's the lake, if
the house catches fire."

The flame in the west spread; the darkness deepened. Between
the swish of the dead leaves and twigs before the wind, and the
crackling sound in the air, another noise grew louder. Was it? — Yes —
"Oh, Sam'l, its Monahan in his car!"

He swished into the house as if a thousand demons were chasing
him.

His mother went to him, as he sank into a chair. "Ye came
to see if we were safe, Monahan, dear, And we are, with the lake
over yonder, and ye be a real hero," pridefully.

.But her son was cowering, trembling, in his seat. There was
unwritten volume in Samuel's stricken look as it met hers.

446 IMPROVEMENT ERA

"Anyhow," Martha said in a low defensive, "he came about
us." She raised her voice, "Didn't ye, Monahan, lad?"

"Yes — But, Oh, mother, I couldn't stop!"

"What would ye be stoppin' for, dearie?"

"To take on the campers that are struggling back there — along
the road. Its awful — "

"Campers!" Samuel almost shouted. "I thought they had all
left. Where were they?"

"Past the creek."

"And ye gave them no lift, Monahan?"

Samuel Currie's eyes smarted with smoke, his skin burned, but
his heart felt the chill of icy water. He was back on the shore of the
lake, watching Jerry's head sink beneath the water, hearing his strang-
ling cry. But his son must not carry through life the bitter agony of
a regret like his own. With a prayer on his lips, he faced him.
"Monahan!" he shouted above the roar without, "come." But Mona-
han crouched the lower, stark fear on his countenance. "Monahan, son,
come — I'm goin' with ye — in the buggy."

Samuel Currie ran toward the stable, opened the door and un-
snapped old Sally's halter. Martha followed to help with the harness.
He gave her a hasty kiss, and was gone into the darkness. Martha
knelt on the floor of the stable.

At the sound of the rattle of the old buggy passing the house,
Monahan groaned and buried his face in his hands. His lips moved
in the first prayer he had ever uttered since reaching manhood: "Father,
Father," he sobbed, "take from me this craven soul and make me
strong." Over and over, he repeated the words, tears streaming down
his face.

While out in the stable, Martha still knelt — worn hands uplifted
in wordless supplication.

Suddenly the leash of fear that had so long held Monahan burst,
and strength and courage flowed into his tortured veins. Instantly
Monahan knew that God had heard his prayer. He sprang up, and was
out the doorway ere his mother reached it, and a moment after had
headed his Ford into the threatening, livid west. As he raced his
car along the road, he seemed to have left his old self behind. Not only
courage, but elation was surging through his being. Had the Lord
of Hosts sent this flame from Heaven to burn away the dark, fettering
cord that had held him captive? He laughed aloud, exulting in his free-
dom of soul; guided the car safely, dodging the glowing embers which
the raging wind was tossing from the forest. His eyes ran with smarting
tears, and the clouds of smoke almost choked him. Fortunately, the road
was familiar to him; he had only to steer his car and speed ahead.
A black shadow loomed before him, and he turned his Ford sharply
to pvoid hitting a furiously racing car. Further on he met two
shadowing forms, who scrambled with sobs of relief into his back
seat. On toward the fume of conflagration he drove. "Curses,"
hissed a voice in his ear, "you're mad, turn around."

FEAR 447

But Monahan had not ended his quest. Where were the old buggy
and horse that had been driven into this scorching inferno of flame
by that conquering hero of fear — his father?

By the rickety bridge over the creek, he came upon an overturned
car, its driver holding one hand to his head, and with the other
signaling frantically for him to stop. "Have you seen a buggy pass?"
Monahan asked through swollen lips. "Not within the last fifteeen
minutes."

"Then father must have taken the cross-road into the forest,"
thought Monahan. Mildred's father's summer cabin was at the end
of that road. But Monahan knew they had long since returned to
the city.

"Turn back, you fool!" shouted a fear-crazed occupant of his
car, and a hand almost wrenched the steering wheel from his grasp.
Monahan struck it off savagely. "Turn back," shouted another, "the
gas'll explode."

Monahan felt it was time to retreat. Anyhow his father had
not had time to drive farther. He turned his car warily. A branch
of burning brush, blown by the wind, fell, barely missing the hood.
His face felt seared, his eyes glazed and swollen, but the hands that
gripped the wheel were steady. He seemed to be in a trance, in which
the frightened cries of the men behind him were the jibes of the
courtroom lawyers. But he had no fear now! He was equal to the
whole yelping pack of them! But there was something lacking — he
slowed his car and peered down the forest road. Yes, there it was — a
buggy-overturned — a form, too.

He jumped out and staggered toward them — stooped to lift the
inert form of his father, felt his heart. Thank God, there was still life,
then Mildred's voice was in his ear:

"I rode back to camp this morning — but my horse broke loose.
I was calling him when your father found me. Coming back his
horse became frightened and shied off the road. He is a hero, Mon-
ahan, and oh, so are you — I'm sorry for what I said Monahan — I —
am — "

The voice faltered, failed, or was it his ears? There was a diz-
ziness, a feeling of suffocation in his head — blackness. Then he felt
a hand on his own: "Let me drive, Monohan." He straightened with
a jerk. The car was careening crazily, he steadied it and bit his lip
to keep from lapsing again. Only a little further now. Then he
plunged the scorched Ford through the long grass and brush and into
the saving waters of the lake.

A cheer of thanksgiving went up from the occupants, but Mon-
ahan turned and looked toward the house which held his mother.
Scalding tears coursed down his cheeks, relieving his eyes of their
burning.

A big motor car, and an ambulance pulled up. Some one had
telephoned to the city. Monahan watched them lift the limp form of
his father. Soon the faded eyes opened and looked about bewildered.

448 IMPROVEMENT ERA

"Fell on his head — stunned — no harm done," the doctor told
Monahan, and went to bandage Mildred's burns.

"Monahan!" Samuel called weakly.

"Here, father, I've been tried by fire and I'll make good now. I
ran away and sold my time to a real estate firm in Overton, but I am
going back to the city. I'll be their backwoodsman lawyer, their rising
lawyer, their not-to-be-beaten-by-bullies lawyer. Oh, father!"

"My son!" was all Samuel's emotions allowed him to say, but
the tone held a world full of pride and fulfilled hope.

"You next," said the doctor touching Monahan's seared arm.

"Come, miss, I'll drive you home," called a voice from the big
car.

"I'm coming," Mildred answered, but she lingered to whisper to
Monahan, "I'll return, soon."

With aching bodies, but singing hearts, father and son went to-
ward the waiting mother, and faced the future that was without lurking
trace of cowardly fear.
Rock Island, III.

To A Missionary

Yours is a calling o'er land and sea,
Wherever needed your service may be;
Teaching truth, Christ's message expound
Wherever the honest-in-heart are found.

Leading souls to the better way;
Guiding them upward day by day;
Seeking not for earthly gain,
Laying up treasures on a higher plane.

Jesus has said, what glory be thine
If only one sinner is brought to the shrine;
Repentant and humble, to his glory is led,
Filled with rich wisdom, life's eternal bread.

Then give your best effort, whole heart and mind,
To the good and advancement of humankind.
Riches are yours in the joy you will win,
Dispelling the darkness and sorrow of sin.
Manti, Utah ZELMA MILLER.

Photo by Frank Beckwith
SCENE FROM LADY MOUNTAIN TRAIL, ZION CANYON

GOD PROCLAIMED BY ZION'S BEAUTIES

By Nancy Smith Lowe

I would that all those who come to this charming spot, this choice
place of beauty, might feel the great and overpowering awe which
fills my heart, as I stand and gaze at the towering cliffs with their gor-
geous and wonderful pictures, with delicate tracery of tree or flower
or fern. And that all might be able to hear the message which they
whisper to me.

My soul rejoices that their name is "Zion." No other name
could be so appropriate. And, though we know that this is only a part
of Zion, yet it is a wonderful part; which is to do a great work in
bringing people from the ends of the earth, to see and learn more of that
for which "Zion" stands. I feel that those who gave the place its name
were inspired, for, truly, these great structures are something more
than mere rock and stone and tree. They are a type of that "Zion"
which is to come, with its glory-crowned towers, to which the peoples
of the world shall come to bow in humble reverence to its Creator,
instead of the creation. God speed the day!

And yet they say, "There is no God,"

These wise ones of the earth;
That "Man is naught but common sod,

And had but mortal birth."
They cannot see, in trees and emerald pool,

In fairy grottoes and in shady dells,
In towering cliffs and summits heavenly cool,

The hand of aught but nature's mystic spells.

450 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Who fashioned these great battlements?

These rocks and cliffs which tower to the sky?
These trees which grow from out the rock's deep clefts,

These mighty towers which raise their peaks on high?
Did these "just happen," wondrous, great and fair?

Did no one paint, or plan, or place them here?
Oh! Tell me not that man can fall so far

That he can doubt this one great truth so clear —

That beauties such as these, so great and grand,

Can never come by chance. It is not so
That marvels such as these need no great guiding hand

To paint and sculpture, plant and cause to grow,
Such scenes, so vast and grand, that fills with awe

The heart of man who gazes on them still.
Then why will not man know and heed the law

And bow in humbleness to that great Will?

"Zion," with towering peaks and castles grand,

With crested turrets raised unto the sky;
With pictures painted by an unseen hand

In sylvan nook or towering cliff on high;
How grand and solemn are thy beauties all!

How clear they speak to list'ning heart and mind!
The beauty of the mountain streamlet's call,

The message carried by the whispering wind!

They tell me of angel groups who once did dwell

Within these gracious haunts of solitude;
Of pictures painted faithfully and well

On crag and peak, in flower and rock and wood.
Upon "The Great White Throne," there reigns supreme

The spirit of this western wilderness;
And "Zion," as it means, "The pure in heart,"

Gives forth this message to the fastnesses:

"If ye would feel the beauty of this place,

These battlements and caves and turrets grand;
These pictures 'blazoned on a thousand rocks,

Ye must be pure in heart to understand,
The ones whose ears are not attuned to truth

Can never hear the Mighty Organ peal,
Nor catch the sound of angel minstrelsy,

Nor trace the hand which painted here so well.

'Tis not for those who're stained by sin and shame

To feel the matchless beauty of these scenes;
But those who've kept their hearts and bodies clean

May hear sweet music in these mountain streams;
May feel the grandeur of each tree, each flower,

The paintings on the rocks, the grass, the sod ;
And know the still, sweet peace, which, hour by hour.

Guides them to paths of usefulness — and God."

Sf. George, Utah NANCY SMITH LOWE

AN AWAKENING
By Silas L. Cheney

"Hey, Sis, not ready yet?" called Willis Garland impatiently. "If
you don't hurry, we'll be late sure."

"In a minute," she replied, still continuing to pose before her
mirror, critically examining and admiring every line of her pretty dress
and dainty slippers. "Aren't they sweet, though?" she exulted. She
clasped a string of imitation pearls about her neck and again paused to
admire. Nature had surely been kind in supplying her with a mass of
shimmering, flaxen hair, eyes of deepest violet, and "cheeks like roses
in the snow." She had every reason to be proud of these charms, since
they were natural; the kind that would stand the wash. It reminded
her of what her father had said about the country girls being genuine.
"Well, why shouldn't they be?" she muttered sardonically, "It's a sure
thing they go through enough fire to burn away the dross."

Almost immediately she was smiling again, happy in her secret
knowledge that the clever, sophisticated Mr. Ferguson would be at the
dance where no doubt he would shower her with favors as he had done
on several former occasions. In order to be free to accept them if pro-
ferred, she had steadily refused to make any dates for the evening,
although hard-pressed to do so, and instead had insisted on going to
the dance with her brother and his girl. If things turned out as she
expected, it would be like enjoying something long desired and would
certainly create a stir. The girls would be envious, the fellows jealous,
and her father would be jarred into another one of his stormy lectures.
He had no love for "that no-account drummer," as he termed Mr. Fer-
guson. In fact he was opposed to her accepting attentions from any one
of the "here today and gone tomorrow" type, since she had no way of
knowing what kind of fellows they really were.

"Better be satisfied with some one of the home boys, such as Joe
Bates, who is 'crazy' about you," her father had said.

But Renae was only satisfied with them so long as nothing better
was in sight. She considered Joe all right, in a way, but his being
a farmer eliminated him, in so far as she was concerned. What she
was after, she told herself, was "big game."

Again there was an eruption from her brother, this time of a much
more threatening nature. She was perfectly aware that it would not do
to try his patience too far, so hastily slipping on a pair of goloshes,
she rushed into the front room carrying a coat in one hand and a scarf
in the other. James stopped his grumbling and gazed at her in aston-
ishment.

"You're looking fine tonight," he said as he helped her with her
coat. He greatly admired his pretty sister, notwithstanding appear-

452 IMPROVEMENT ERA

ances to the contrary, and nothing pleased him more than to hear the
fellows "rave" about her.

"Here are some quilts," said Mr. Garland, handing one to each of
them, "This storm makes it rather miserable. You'll need them to
keep warm."

Ranae paused to kiss him on the cheek and whisper an endearing
word in his ear before dashing out. He faltered slightly as he responded
to this caress, "You are very pretty, my girl. Take care of yourself."

"Good-night," they called back as they splashed out through the
storm to the badly battered Ford.

The ride that followed was like a nightmare to Renae, through
darkness, rain and mud. Occasionally James would slow down almost
to a stop in order to pass safely over some especially bad place in the
road, then off they would go again, splashing, swaying, rattling.
Fortunately when they reached Clark's, Mamie was all ready and met
Willis at the door.

"Hello, Renae," she cried as Willis helped her in. "I'm glad you
are along. We'll be well chaperoned now, won't we, Willis?"

"Oh, don't mind me." replied Renae dryly, "I have eyes that see
not and ears that hear not, when occasion requires it."

Nothing more passed between them. They were too interested in
themselves to think of her, and she was too concerned with her own
thoughts to mind them. Of one thing she was conscious, however, and
that was that they were holding hands under cover of the quilt. She
considered such a flirtation dull and stupid, and was thankful when
they eventually reached their destination.

As they drew up before the hall, the orchestra began pounding out
a lively fox-trot which was immediately accompanied by an under-
current of dancing feet and happy voices. This set them all aglow with
expectancy. Depositing their wraps at the cloak room, they commenced
jostling their way through the crowd of fellows who stood awkwardly
about the entrance ready to dash out if frightened by the dazzling array
of happy, smiling maidens.

With a crash-ity-crash! Bang! the orchestra ceased playing, and
the dancers came crowding reluctantly to their seats. Almost at once,
a sharp demarkation of sexes took place; the boys, mopping their per-
spiring faces with handkerchiefs, gravitated toward the crowd standing
about the door, while the girls collected in groups of varying sizes to
engage in a kind of effervescent chatter peculiar to their species. Renae
was soon the center of one of the groups; for, as usual, the girls
gathered about to admire her attire with an exaggeration born of envy.
She was greatly pleased at this, for experience had taught her that
jealousy speaks as truthfully as love, if only one is able to interpret it.
As she had expected, the conversation shortly changed to a subject of
even more interest to her than herself.

AN AWAKENING 453

"Say, isn't that Mr. Ferguson an agreeable dancer though?" asked
one.

"Yes, but the friend he has with him tonight is just about as
good, and, if anything, is better looking. Mr. Ferguson is too dark."

"Mr. Ferguson is all. right," supplied a third, "but I, for one,
wouldn't give much for his taste in girls. Why, have you seen how
he is hanging around Blanche Mathie tonight?"

Renae hated herself for not being able to ignore this thinly-
masked thrust. She knew all the girls were scrutinizing her and there-
fore must notice the hurt expression which she could not prevent ap-
pearing in her eyes. A few minutes later, however, she had ample
revenge, for as soon as Mr. Ferguson could break away from Blanche,
he came over to engage her for the next dance. He was frank with
his admiration as he lavished his attentions upon her. He danced with
her so many times that whispers began to circulate in real earnest.
James glared at her warningly and Joe — poor Joe — looked so hurt that
she really felt sorry for him. But how supremely happy she was! She
could not understand why her father and James objected to Mr. Fer-
guson so much. To her, he seemed an embodiment of all her wild
yearnings. His faultless appearance and polished manners contrasted
strikingly with those of the cheap, awkward farm boys who were con-
stantly endeavoring to force their attentions upon her. Instead of being
tongue-tied, or having to mumble something about the weather, his
conversation ran on smoothly, presenting an everchanging, never-ending
panorama of persons, places and things. No wonder she was greatly
flattered by his attentions.

After a prolonged one-step, she welcomed the invitation to sit
out a dance with him. Getting their wraps, they made their way care-
fully to where his car was parked. For a time she enjoyed the sensation
of sitting quietly by his side, then, suddenly, she was startled by his
asking her how she would like to live in the city where she could attend
social functions, theaters, and concerts with people of refinement and
culture.

"That has always been my dream," she replied pensively. "Such
people must enjoy things that we here know nothing about."

"Then you really think you would like that better than being a
'Maud Muller?' " he questioned laughingly.

"Oh, I dislike farming. I believe it is the most stupid and miser-
able way of living in the world."

"If that is the way you feel, why don't you give it up, run away
from it, abandon it?"

"But suppose I did, what would I do then?" she asked with
concern.

"Do?" he exclaimed. "I'll tell you what you could do. You're
the most fascinating girl in the world. How I would love to possess
you. Are you following me? We both like the same things; the

454 IMPROVEMENT ERA

things I have are the things you want. Why not get married and enjoy
them together?"

As she listened to this declaration, she saw the door of opportunity
opening before her. Was it possible? She could scarcely believe her
ears.

"Why — a — you're surely joking," she stammered.

"Joking, no; little girl, you know I'm not," and he bent and
kissed her so passionately that the warm blood went dancing through
her veins.

"Then — you must know my answer, or rather, what it would be
if it weren't for the unreasonable dislike Daddy has for you. But as
it is, what can I do?" she faltered.

"Your ignorance is refreshing. Why, the consent of mother
and father now-a-days is a matter of no great importance. When love
beckons, young people are beginning to know enough to follow. It
is a good thing, too, for if it were not so, there would be a great deal
more unhappiness in the world than there is. I'm certainly glad the old
folks don't have to do the choosing for me. They might not select
you, and then how unhappy I'd be."

"But, you see, Daddy has always been so kind, and then he de-
pends upon me so much, particularly since mother died, that it makes
me feel like a criminal to think of hurting him in any way."

" That is all very well," he replied, "but are you willing to permit
even this to destroy a lifetime of happiness for both of us? If your
dad would give me a chance I'm sure he would come to like me and
then everything would be all right. He might not give his consent
now, but be assured he would when he saw how happy you were."

"I think so, too," she replied thoughtfully.

"Then how about running down to the city for the ceremony
and perhaps coming back for a short visit before taking a honeymoon
trip, possibly to Europe?"

"All right," she consented, looking up at him bewitchingly.

"You packet of sweetness!" and he drew her closely to him,
smothering her with kisses.

She became frightened at the fierceness of his passion, and strug-
gled to free herself, but he held her so fast that it took all the strength
she had to draw away from him.

"Oh, I beg your pardon," he muttered shamefacedly. "My love
for you got the better of my discretion."

"It was only that you were smothering me," she said apologet-
ically, thinking that, after all, it was merely .the way he had of express-
ing his affection. Apparently men had different methods of letting
a girl know how much she meant to them. Some contented themselves
with holding hands, under patchwork quilts, others lavished one with
kisses. To her, both were distasteful, but what was a girl to do? She
was afraid she had displeased him by the way she had acted and there-

AN AWAKENING 45 5

fore was much relieved when he continued the conversation as if nothing
had happened.

"Is it all settled then, Renae?"

"All but the details," she replied.

"Yes, there are details, of course;" then, as the swelling strains
of dance music reached them, he exclaimed, "But there goes the fox-trot
they promised us. I simply must get back. I have this dance with
Miss Morton and if I fail to make my appearance her old man would
never give me another order. We can complete our plans during our
next dance, 'Nicht war,' darling?" He sprang out of the car and
turned to assist her.

"I would rather stay here, if I may," she said. "I feel much too
tired and happy to mix with that noisy crowd again tonight."

"Just as you wish. I'll be out to keep you company shortly."

The sound of his footsteps had scarcely died away when she
heard others approaching, accompanied by a low rumble of conver-
sation. She thought nothing of this until her name was mentioned in
connection with Mr. Ferguson's. Then she tried to ascertain who the
speakers were. There were two men, and from their voices, she soon
discovered that one was the hall manager, Mr. Strong, and the other was
Mr. Ferguson's friend, Mr. Drake. They stopped at the very car in
which she was trying desperately to hide herself. Mr. Drake com-
menced rummaging about at the rear for something which was evidently
hidden there. Then suddenly he held a flask up to view, and both men
laughed.

"Um — Best I've tasted in years," said Mr. Strong, as he removed
the bottle from his lips.

"No doubt. And what's more, it's apt to be some time before
you taste its like again."

"I shouldn't wonder," replied Mr. Strong. "But how about the
matter we were discussing; I tell you frankly, I don't like the looks
of it, and neither does her father, though he seems unable to put a
stop to the affair. Now if Mr. Ferguson were only serious, or if she
wasn't so innocent as to take too much for granted, things would be
different, but as it is — , well, it's a shame, a — dirty shame, I call it."

"You're right," replied Drake.

"Confound it, man, isn't there something you can do to stop it?
You're his friend. Can't you make him realize that this Garland girl
is too good to be trampled on?"

"No. You see its just like a poker game with him and no one
likes to be told how to play his hand. Leave him alone and things
will go better than if you try to interfere. I know that from experi-
ence."

"What sort of a fellow is he anyway?" demanded Mr. Strong.

"Man to man, he isn't so bad. In fact he is a pretty good sort.
Certainly there are many worse. But when it comes to women, it's
different. He has a great weakness for pretty faces, not the kind that

456 IMPROVEMENT ERA

leads to love, for he is incapable of loving anyone except himself, but
simply a weakness that is satisfied as soon as he has completely con-
quered his victim. His task is generally not so difficult either, since
for some reason, they 'fall' for him as readily as he does for them, but
inevitably the harder they fight, the harder they fall. For instance,
a year or so ago he became enamored of a most charming girl out in
Wyoming, and while she considered him a little god on wheels, her
Christian training was such that she held him off until their love should
be sanctified by marriage. Well, what did he do but inveigle her into
a mock ceremony, a deception she did not discover until some months
later. How he ever escaped the jail for that affair is more than I know,
unless, as he says, he chose the proper atmosphere for exploiting the
truth; namely, a long way from home and friends."

"The — skunk!" exclaimed Mr. Strong. "I do wish something
could be done."

"Well, I'm telling you that if she is the innocent, credulous type
you describe her to be, one who knows too much to be told anything
by others, as is generally the case, there is nothing that can be done,
except to predict what will happen. My prediction is that this Garland
girl is already like 'bread cast upon the water' which may return after
many days, but not before being watersoaked and badly damaged."

Renae heard no more. A feeling of horror and nausea swept over
her. Not for anything would she run the chance of being alone with
Mr. Ferguson again. As soon as the coast was clear, she climbed out
and ran hastily back to the hall. She rechecked her wraps hoping to
find a hiding place where she could rest undisturbed until time to go
home. But fate was against her for as she entered, the orchestra struck
up the home waltz, a signal for everyone either to dance or leave. Thus
the crowd at the entrance, which she had thought to use as a protecting
screen, suddenly melted away, leaving her completely exposed to the
vigilant Mr. Ferguson who was just going out to join her.

"You're just in time. How fortunate — " he began as he ap-
proached smiling blandly, his eyes feasting upon her in a manner which,
now that she understood, fairly made her flesh crawl. What should
she do? She had the sensation of being sucked down into a seething
whirlpool and, like a drowning person clutching at a straw, she reached
out and took someone by the arm, stammering as she did so: "I — I beg
your pardon, Mr. — Mr. Ferguson, I have the home waltz with this
gentleman." Then everything seemed to swim before her eyes. She
realized nothing except that she was being borne away from some
terrible danger by strong, protecting arms. In this state of coma, she
nearly circled the hall before commencing to wonder who her partner
was and what he must be thinking of her, after the way she had drafted
him into service. There was something familiarly reassuring in the
way he danced. Who could he be? Of course she would have to find
out. She couldn't continue staring vacantly at his vest buttons. Tilt-
ing her head slightly, she glanced up timidly through the corners of

AN AWAKENING 457

her eyes. Why it was Joe — dear old faithful Joe, and he was smiling
down at her so quizzically that she simply had to say something!

"Surprised?" she queried, hardly knowing what she said.

"Yes — sure," he replied. "But such surprisin' don't hurt me
any, I guess."

She knew that he was expecting her to explain, but how was she
to do it? Casting frantically about for a plausible reason, she sud-
denly struck anchor.

"Why — why, you see I thought I would get even with you for
not asking me to dance tonight."

The tenseness of the situation relaxed as both laughed over the
droll explanation; she, because of the relief she felt; he, because of pure
happiness.

Delta, Utah

Smile

Of course you have your troubles. Many things bother you; little
unpleasant things that deepen the crease between your brows and give
a dissatisfied expression to your eyes. But smile! There are rough
spots in every road; spots that hurt your feet, jar your spine and try
your disposition. But smile! Don't imagine you are the only over-
burdened mortal on the globe. Don't think that your neighbor has all
the sunshine in his yard; you don't know the dark corner between his
house and garage where slugs and cut-worms wreck his choicest shrubs.
He may be as much discouraged as you are, but mayhap he has learned
the secret of a smile.

So smile, and whatever you do, don't wrap the mantle of sym-
pathy around yourself; that is the rankest kind of pity. Don't count
the things you have missed; count the ones you have found. Every
human has his downs as well as his ups. Smile, don't be susceptible
to the sting of the "gloom bug."

San Diego, California DOROTHY C. RETSLOFF

God's Handiwork

I love to see His firmaments I love to see His dark storm clouds

Of moving worlds in space; And watch the lightnings play;

I love to know He made them so — I love to hear His voice, so loud,

Assigned to each its place. In thunders roll away.

I love to note His sure control

Of wind and wave at sea;

I love to know He loves us so

He died for you and me.

Park City, Utah H. GRAEHL

MESSAGES FROM THE MISSIONS
A Notice in the "Brunswick News," Georgia

Elder L. R. Condie, W. W. Kirkland, D. C. Gardner and E. B. Tenney
report from Odum, Georgia, that their labors have been quite successful in
a district heretofore indifferent. Four of the elders were at Brunswick for
the holidays, and held a series of spirited meetings, eight in all, six of which
took place at non-members' homes. All were well attended. Much interest
was manifest. Many conversations followed, and a number of Books of
Mormon and tracts, song books and other pamphlets were sold and distributed.
A picture of President Grant and writeup concerning his seventieth anniversary
recently appeared in the Brunswick News, which we appreciated very much.
We see that opposition is weakening and the work is gaining momentum.
We read the Era eagerly and find it to be a wonderful help in our work. —
L. R. Condie.

Left to right: L. R. Condie, W. W. Kirkland, E. B. Tenney. D. C. Gardner,

Early Teaching Counts

David Anderson, writing from Matthews ward, Calif., states that he
attended the Los Angeles Conference of the Southern California mission on
Sunday, January 10, at which a very thrilling testimony was delivered by
President Joseph W. McMurrin. In writing to his father, Peter A. Anderson,
23rd ward, Salt Lake City, he expresses his thanks and gratitude to the Lord
that in his early day his father helped him by insisting that he should go to
Priesthood meetings, in the Sixteenth ward, and by patiently teaching him
the gospel. "I am thankful," he says, "that I had a father like you, willing
to counsel and advise me and who insisted on helping me to obtain a
testimony of this great work of the Lord in which we are engaged." The
incident is an encouragement to parents to teach their children the gospel
in early life and to insist upon their attendance at the quorum meetings and

MESSAGES FROM THE MISSIONS

459

the organizations. Their efforts will result as in this case, in the complete
conversion of their children and in giving them a living testimony of the
gospel. Early persistent teaching in wisdom and love counts in the charac-
ter of children.

A Good Six-month's Work

What was considered one of the best conferences of recent years in the
London district was held on Sunday, October 10, 1926, with President and
Sister James E. Talmage of the European missions in attendance. The
spacious headquarters hall at South Tottenham was decorated in autumn garb;
and the theme of the day was "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap," as applied to the divine mission of Joseph Smith. A report showed a
membership of 688 in the district, 100 of whom bear the Priesthood. During
the six months preceding October 10, the elders distributed 43,322 tracts,
1,165 pamphlets, 73 Books of Mormon and 153 other books: and 35 bap-
tisms were performed, as compared with 12 for the whole of last year. Several
London newspapers gave liberal space to announcements of the conference ;
reporters attended and good accounts of the proceedings have appeared in
journals published as far north as Glasgow. — Harold A. Candland, president
London conference.

Elders of the London Conference

Seated, left to right: Ivan J. Foster, American Fork, Utah; Hyrum J. Ward,
conference clerk, Preston, Idaho; Harold A. Candland, conference president, Provo.
Utah; James E. Talmage, president, European mission; Sister May Booth Talmage,
president, European mission Relief Societies; Henry D. Bradford, Salt Lake City,
Utah; Lawrence W. Bramwell, Ogden, Utah; Francis A. Rainsdoni Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Standing: Roscoe E. Evans, Raymond, Idaho; Arnold F. Wright, Blackfoot, Idaho;
Mark M. Argyle, Woods Cross, Utah; Alexander J. Bryan, Tooele, Utah; Ralph V.
Chisholm, Salt Lake City, Utah; Jesse R. Smith, Salt Lake City; and two elders
returning home from the continental missions.

460

IMPROVEMENT ERA

London Conference Holds Leadership Day

On December 19, 1926, the London conference of the British mission
established what was called "Leadership Day," the theme being "Better Teach-
ing of Religion." Hour classes and general assemblies were held during the
day, and practical instruction given on the purpose and work of the Priest-
hood and auxiliary organizations. Seven branches and twenty-two towns
were represented, some traveling seveny-five miles to attend. A meeting
of the elders, held at "Deseret" January 1, 1927, was characterized by the
adoption of a year slogan, with monthly slogans based on the needs of the
conference. — Harold A. Candland, conference president.

Thirty Baptisms in Fresno Conference

The semi-annual gathering of the Fresno conference was held on Novem-
ber 6 and 7. Several meetings each day were held, and the missionaries of
the conference were banqueted by the Fresno branch Relief Society, an
affair greatly appreciated. The principles of the gospel were discussed at
the various meetings, and the reasonableness and truth of "Mormonism"
were shown to those who had assembled. Many investigators were present
and expressed themselves as favorably impressed with the message they had
heard. There is much indifference among the people of this part of Califor-
nia, but we are successful in distributing our literature and placing some
Books of Mormon. There have been more than thirty baptisms in this
conference this year, more than fifty per cent of them being converts. — Merlin
J. Larsen, conference president, Fresno, California.

ELDERS OF THE FRESNO CONFERENCE

Seated,, left to right: Thomas Farr, Ogden, Utah; Asahel J. Barnum, Los Vegas,
Nevada; Merlin J. Larsen, Preston, Idaho, conference president; Joseph W. McMurrin,
mission president; James I. May, Honeyville, Utah, branch president; Arthur F.
Miles, St. George, Utah; Orson P. Badger, Ogden, Utah. Standing: John E.
Evans, Salt Lake City; Thomas S. Toyn, Arbon, Idaho; George C. Lloyd, Salt
Lake City; John Adams, Brigham City, Utah; Perry Montaine Jordan, Boise, Idaho:
Vetta Linford, Panguitch, Utah.

MESSAGES FROM THE MISSIONS 461

New President for the Canadian Mission

In early February it was announced by the First Presidency that Elder
Chas. H. Hart of the First Council of Seventy was appointed President of
the Canadian mission, with headquarters at Toronto, 3 6 Ferndale Ave.
President Joseph Quinney, Jr., after years of labor, was honorably released.
President Hart left to fill his new call on Feb. 14, 1927.

One in a Thousand

The Elders of the Fairmont, West Virginia, conference north, report
forty-one baptisms in 1926. During the summer of 1926 the elders had
unusual success in preaching the gospel. Forty-one counties, with a popu-
lation of 600,000, contained six hundred Saints; forty-one were added to
the number this year, thirty-five of whom were adults. Instructions to' the
elders before they started on the summer campaign were that they were to
preach faith, repentance and baptism in the homes of investigators; and in
the homes of the Saints, obedience, Word of Wisdom, tithing and prayer
were to be taught. The Lord blessed our efforts and thousands have heard
the gospel through our humble labors.

Missionaries of West Virginia Conference North: E. E. Green, Ogden; J. Francis
Giles, Provo; Seth W. Ballard (short term), Salt Lake City; W. W. Nisbet (re-
leased), Salt Lake City; Elmer B. Peterson, Chandler, Arizona; Golden H. Black,
incoming conference president, Delta; A. B. Curtis, Payson; Orion N. Follett, Logan;
Fidelia Nelson, Sandy; Clifford L. Madsen, outgoing conference president, Charles-
ton, Utah; Daphne Smith, Salt Lake City; Arnold Westover (short term), Rexburg,
Idaho.

And You?

He dreamed that he dared the dare of a man,

That he faced the world without fear:
The dullard's dream since time began,

The coward's cup of good .cheer.

He dreamed that he'd. won the fellowship

Of his fellowman, and he cried
With a joyous heart and a quivering lip,

But at dawn his hope-dream died.

Then he dreamed that he'd treated the whole world square

And resolved that in justice he'd do
The things that were honest and just and fair,

And he tried, and his dream's came true.

George Walter.

Editors ^Table

Our Heritage

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is divine in
origin. It is not an ordinary organization designed by men; it had
its beginning with the Lord, when he deemed it necessary to restore
the gospel to men on earth in the latter-day dispensation, after it had
been taken away through apostacy. The establishment of the Church
has occurred, not by chance, but by foresight and declaration of the
Lord. It began in miracles and is the greatest miracle of which
the world has ever heard.

There were many visits of heavenly representative beings, each
coming to the Prophet Joseph Smith to make known a definite, funda-
mental principle. Thus we have —

1 . The visitation of the Father and the Son themselves, through
which a definite knowledge of God the Father and his Son Jesus
Christ was obtained; and the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood
of man, and the separate and distinct personality of the Godhead
established.

2. The appearance of the messenger Moroni, who, with many
instructions, delivered the plates to Joseph Smith, from which the Book
of Mormon was translated, the hundredth anniversary of which oc-
casion we celebrate this year. That book contains a fulness of the
gospel to the Nephites, ancient inhabitants of this continent, and is a
marvelous witness of the Lord Jesus Christ, his resurrection and di-
vinity.

3. The visit of John the Baptist, who conferred the Aaronic
Priesthood upon Joseph and his companion, Oliver, (acting under
the direction of Peter, James and John, the ancient apostles who held
the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood) , restored the keys of the
ministering of angels and the gospel of repentance and of baptism
for the remission of sins, and which Priesthood abideth forever with
the Melchizedek.

4. The coming of Peter, James and John, who possessed the
keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood and the dispensation of the fulness
of times, and who ordained and confirmed the Prophet and Oliver
Cowdery to the Melchizedek Priesthood, and to be apostles and special
witnesses of the name of Christ; committed to them the keys of his
kingdom and the dispensation of the gospel for the last time, and for
the fulness of times, in which, we are told, shall be gathered together
in one all things, both in heaven and on earth.

5. The appearance of Moses, who committed to Joseph and
Oliver the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the
earth, a marvelous illustration of which we have before us in western

EDITORS' TABLE 463

America, where are gathered people who have embraced the gospel from
all parts of the earth, in conformity with the predictions of the
prophets in holy scripture.

6. Elias, who committed to them the keys of the gospel
of Abraham, saying that in them and their seed all generations after
them should be blessed.

7. Elijah, who committed into their hands the keys of the
dispensation of the fulness of times, by which a way was opened
through which the hearts of the fathers might be turned to the chil-
dren, and the children's to the fathers, for the salvation of the dead.
This has resulted in the erection and work of temples, where vicarious
work is performed for those who have died.

The Church is founded upon the revelations of the Father and
the Son, and the holy messengers sent by them to the Prophet —
every visitation a miracle. The Latter-day Saints believe in these
miracles implicitly. They believe that the covenant of the Lord with
Abraham is in the process of fulfilment, in their organization and
gathering, and in the great work — the "marvelous work and a won-
der"— which He has established in the latter days. They believe im-
plicitly in the literal sonship of Jesus; that he is the Christ, the
Son of the living God, that he is a resurrected being, and that the
messengers who lived upon the earth in early ages still live; that life
is everlasting; that our associations, and friendships and loves in this
life will continue in joy in the eternities to come; that life after death,
and the resurrection, are realities; and that obedience to the plan of
salvation as taught in the gospel of Jesus Christ will insure the en-
joyment of these realities, now and throughout the countless ages
of eternity.

The Latter-day Saints believe in eternal progress, and that the
joy that comes from obedience to the gospel will accompany them
in this life, and will continue in the eternities. The effect of faith
in this philosophy, and in these facts, on the lives of the members
of the Church, is marvelous. It has resulted in unparalleled spiritual
and temporal growth and progress. Believing in Christ, and in the
Church established in the latter days through his direct command,
after a pattern outlined by him, they follow the essence of his teach-
ings, live a simple life, unencumbered by hypocrisy or needless ritual;
keep in constant communication with the Father in heaven by prayer
coming from the heart, and are doers as well as teachers of the word
of God. They believe in the resurrection, and that the great beyond
is a place of progress towards higher and greater things, and even
Godhood. They marry, not only for time, but for the eternities.
Going hand in hand with :the spiritual phases of "Mormon" phil-
osophy are the practical doctrines that pertain to this life, and which
are destined to promote the welfare of the Saints in temporal affairs.
The Saints who live their religion care for the health of the body
through strict obedience to the Word of Wisdom; they welcome

4 64 IMPROVEMENT ERA

truth from every source. Every member is an active worker. They
believe in education and progress, spiritual, temporal, and intellectual.
They believe in the development of leadership, in colonizing the
waste places, and in work. They are loyal to the government; take
care of their poor; believe in fatherhood and motherhood; and stand
among the first in education, chastity, and obedience to law and order.

Their faith in the Church, their living by it, and practicing the
precepts of the gospel as revealed to their inspired leaders and made
manifest in the miracles at the establishment of the Church, have given
them outstanding fame in the earth. They are fulfiling the prophecies
of the ancient prophets. They are a part of the greatest miracle ever
produced in the world.

"Mormonism" is designed for the happiness, well being and sal-
vation, temporal and spiritual, of all the creatures of God. It is
broad in scope, tolerant, truth-seeking, and is destined to be the re-
ligion of the future. It is a rich legacy of faith and good works which
the fathers and mothers have transmitted, at great sacrifice, to their
descendants, the youth of Zion.

By the help of God, we will prove worthy of an adequate vision
of this great miracle. By his help, we will obtain an inward con-
viction of the value of this marvelous inheritance; and, through our
faith, worthiness and work, continue on to even greater achievements.
We will be valiant, true and courageous. We will not prove recreant
to our trust and heritage. — A.

Reflections

How Instructions Become Useful. Instructions coming from
without are helpful or hurtful only so far as the heart and soul
of the individual are converted to them. Instructions and informa-
tion coming from outward sources are of little value, unless their
power is felt inwardly by the individual. Phillips was right when
he stated, "An interpretation must be felt, and not accepted as author-
ity without inner appreciation.'1

Discipline and Order — Among the instructions that Dr. Karl G.
Maeser frequently gave to parents and teachers, none is of more
importance for present-day application than this one:

"In religious as well as in all kinds of public assemblies, even
in theatres and places of amusement , children are to be taught the
principle of respect and reverence for the place, the occasion, the
property, and for the feelings of others. This principle is urged upon
the parents for cultivation at their firesides."

This principle is also urged, at this time, upon recreation
leader*s and all officers of auxiliary organizations in the Church. It
is needed everywhere, and especially in the movies, and often in other
exercises in the ward recreation halls.

EDITORS' TABLE , 465

Responsibility for Conduct — Much stress is lately placed upon
the notion that men and women are not responsible for their acts,
under certain conditions; that they can not choose between right and
wrong, but are thrust hither and thither by heredity, environment and
other forces over which they have no control. Behavioristic psycholo-
gists would probably exonerate such men and women from responsi-
bility, as suffering from a series of "complexes," whatever that may
be. The complexes doubtless exist, but it must be emphasized that
they can be vanquished. They are not fatal. People may adopt ra-
tional measures to overcome them. The moral responsibility of the
person must be insisted upon, regardless of his hereditary and en-
vironmental complexes, which, by proper determination, can be over-
come. People are blamed for their right or wrong actions. They are
held accountable because we know they are responsible. Very often
these complexes arise from lack of self-control and will power. We
live in a time when the moral responsibility of the individual should
be insisted upon and stressed.

As With the Leaders, So With the People. If officers of the
law and respectable business men and leaders in society in their gather-
ings, in private clubs or in business clubs, should meet to tell lewd
stories, engage in carousing, or in drinking orgies, they would prove
unworthy of the confidence and respect that are usually given them.
Men of this class, because of their standing in society or because they
have money, who close their eyes to the breaking of law in private
or in their club rooms, are not worthy of public respect. How can
such men expect or demand that young people shall be law-abiding,
shall live clean, honest lives, when those who should be their ex-
emplars violate law and morals! These people need not flatter them-
selves that their secret acts are unknown; on the contrary, they are
flouted upon the housetops. Such men are hypocrites, and are
not worthy of official position, leadership or respect. Verily the
words of the Lord apply with force to them:

"Ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful
outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Even so, ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are
full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

BOOKS

The Book of Mormon

A new and beautiful edition of Volume II of New Witnesses For God.
and treating on the Book of Mormon, has just been issued from the Deseret
News Press and published by the Deseret Book Company. The book
contains five hundred pages, in which the well-known author, Elder B. H.
Roberts, treats the Book of Mormon in four parts, as follows: u

1. The value of the Book of Mormon as a witness for the authenticity
and integrity of the Bible: and the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

4 06 IMPROVEMENT ERA

2. The discovery of the Book of Mormon and its translation, mi-
grations, lands, inter-continental movements, civilizations, governments,
and the religions of its peoples.

3. Evidences of the truth of the Book of Mormon.

4. Objections to the Book of Mormon considered.

It is one of the most convincing books ever written on the value
and truth of the Nephite record; and, in this Book-of-Mormon year, should
have a wide circulation.

"Der Wegweiser"

A new quarterly comes to the Era, Der Weg-Weiser,- published in the
interest of the priesthood and the auxiliary organizations of the Swiss-
German and German-Austrian missions of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Sanits. No. 1, January-March, 1927, contains 144 pages,
double-column print; it is introduced by several literary articles, after which
follow the outlines for the first three months of study for the Priesthood
quorums, the Relief Society, Sunday schools, the Mutual Improvement As-
sociations, and the Teacher-Training classes. President Hugh J. Cannon, of
the Swiss-German mission, is the editor, assisted by Hyrum W. Valentine,
president of the German-Austrian mission, and a corps of writers. Several
pieces of music, suitable for general worship and for the different organiza-
tions, are found in the book. It is a wonderful publication, and has en-
tailed much worthy work in its compilation, for which the editors and
the heads of organizations are congratulated. It should be of great value
and help to the Church workers in the two missions.

Y. M. M. I. A. Statistical and Efficiency Reports

It is a delight to study the reports received for January, 1927, from
79 stakes out of the 96 stakes in the Church. The largest stake is Liberty.
It has an enrollment of 1,365 out of a possible 1,407 members, and an
average attendance of 924. It reports 100 in [all the ten activities. When
we take into account that so large a membership is involved, it is a remarkable
achievement, for which the officers are highly commended. Other stakes
with large populations and high enrollments are Alpine, Granite. Grant,
Jordan, Salt Lake, Utah; and the California mission keeps them company.
These have an enrollment of from nearly 900 to 1,003. Utah stake, with
1,003, has the second largest enrollment in the Church. Fremont is worthy
of note. It has a required enrollment of 658, but an actual enrollment of
750, with an average attendance of 566, and besides reaches 100 in all its
ten activities. Cassia is the next with 100, making three perfect for Janu-
ary— Liberty, Fremont, Cassia — though fifteen stakes have 90 or more,
Maricopa. Arizona, reaching 99. Seventeen stakes failed to report for
January this year, which is regrettable. They are, Carbon, Duchesne. Kolob.
Mt. Ogden, Nebo, South Sanpete, Wayne, Blackoot. Lost River, Portneuf.
Twin Falls, Alberta, Los Angeles, St. Johns, St. Joseph, San Luis, Union.

COMPARATIVE REPORT

Stakes Wards Total Total Aug.

Reporting Reporting Enrollment Attendance

December, 1925 77 577 31,052 20,558

January, 1926 80 678 36,910 22,961

December, 1926 83 648 33,784 21,161

January, 1927 79 666 35,829 23,090

Counting stakes which have failed to report, but which have done their
work, the Y. M. M. I. A. shows commendable progress.

(Priesthood Quorums

Alt matters pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood, presented under this heading, are
prepared under the direction of the Presiding Bishopric.

It Can Be Done

On Sunday, January 30, members of the Presiding Bishopric visited
the monthly meeting of the Aaronic Priesthood of the Granite stake, held
at the Richards ward.

No special effort had been made to increase the attendance, for it had
not been announced that the Bishopric would be there. The records of this
stake, which are submitted to the Presiding Bishop's office quarterly, indicate
that unusual interest is taken in the work of the Aaronic Priesthood.
The Presiding Bishopric, desiring to study this work in its natural environ-
ment, took this occasion to visit unannounced. Roll call showed nearly 400
young men in attendance.

The music for the occasion was furnished by quartettes and other groups
selected from quorum members of the various wards. Special topics, interest-
ing to the Priesthood quorums, were treated by deacons, teachers and priests.
Ward supervisors were in attendance, and the exercises were under the direction
of the Aaronic Priesthood Supervisory Committee of the High Council.
The boys were so much interested in their work that there was no shifting
about or uneasiness manifest during the whole of the meeting. At the con-
clusion of the program, which lasted for an hour and a half, the boys voted
to remain longer to hear a few words from their visitors.

Assignments are made to quorums and individual members in each ward
to perform certain labors in the ward, such as are outlined by the Aaronic
Priesthood Committee, under the direction of the bishopric of the ward.
At the next meeting a record is made of the fulfilment of all previous assign-
ments. The annual report for the year 1926 shows that 89% of the
assignments made during that year were fulfilled.

The Presiding Bishopric were very much pleased with this demonstra-
tion and feel that this success in one stake should be the means of serving
notice on the other stakes of the Church that young men are willing to
work, and can become enthusiastic in the performance of duties assigned,
if they are properly directed and encouraged.

Comments and Suggestions Invited

We are very much interested in the work of the Aaronic Priesthood
quorums throughout the Church. In order to stimulate interest in the work
and to gather information and suggestions that will be helpful to these
organizations throughout the Church, we invite suggestions and comments.
We also suggest that stake supervisory committees, who desire to know more
concerning the activities of the Granite stake, may communicate with President
Frank Y. Taylor, 50 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. —
The Presiding Bishopric, by David A. Smith.

Field Notes

Union Ward Teachers Banquet. — In appreciation of the good work done
by the ward teachers of Union ward, Jordan stake, during 1926, the bish-
opric tendered them and their wives or companions a chicken dinner and

468 IMPROVEMENT ERA

social on the evening of January 14, 1927. After an interesting program,
all present sat down to a hearty dinner. Various toasts were given. In the
course of his remarks, Bishop Heber J. Burgon stated that all ward teachers had
visited all the families under their charge every month during the past year.
The spirit evidenced by the teachers would indicate that they have been
concerned not only with the number of visits, but also with the effectiveness
of the same. Two of the teachers are over 84 years of age, but manifested
a fine, alert spirit. One of the brethren nearly 80 years of age reported
covering the four miles required to make his visits on foot every month.
The youngest teacher — about 1 7 years of age — also spoke briefly. The secret
of the success obtained in this ward appears to be in the spirit of the work
possessed by the bishopric and the ward teachers, and the kindly instructions
and systematic .encouragement given by those in charge. Presiding Bishop
Sylvester Q. Cannon, and President Soren Rasmussen and counselors of the
Jordan stake, were present at the gathering.

Promoting Attendance of Aaronic Priesthood. — At the stake Leader-
ship meeting of the Grant stake, December last, the Aaronic priesthood
of Central Park ward challenged all of the other wards of Grant stake
to an attendance contest during the month of January. The only
ward that accepted the challenge was the Hillcrest ward. The results
of this attendance contest for the month of January shows that the Hillcrest
ward won. This contest was based on the average attendance each week
during the month as compared with the enrollment of all Aaronic Priesthood
quorums in each ward. The result shows that the average attendance of the
Hillcrest ward during the month of January was 74%, and the Central Park
ward, 69%. As a result of this activity, four members of the Aaronic priest-
hood of the Hillcrest ward, previously inactive, have become active and are
prepared for ordination to a higher office; and three members of the Central
Park ward, formerly inactive, are now taking an active interest in the work.
The Central Park ward Aaronic priesthood, who lost the contest, gave a
banquet to the Hillcrest ward, the winners, on the evening of February 7, at
which about 150 young men were present.

The supervision of the Central Park ward, under direction of the bishop,
is as follows: Jay S. Worthington, chairman of the supervisors. With him
are associated two priests as assistants. This committee exercises detailed
supervision over the activities of the members. Associated with them are also
the class supervisors of each quorum. Immediately after the weekly meeting,
a meeting is held of all the supervisors and the presidencies of the various
quorums, at which all the work for the ensuing week is outlined, and a
check made on the activities of the preceding week. The results obtained in
the attendance of the members are due to the interest and enthusiasm of the
quorum members themselves.

Activity Report, Highland Park Ward. — An enviable record was made by
the Aaronic Prieshood of Highland Park ward, Granite stake, for the past year.
The results of the activities for the year, as reported by Bishop Stayner
Richards, are as follows:

Assignments Fulfilments Percentage

Priests 517 443 85%

Teachers 398 35 7 90%

Deacons 13 50 1313 9 7%

The assignments given to the priests consisted of baptizing, adminis-
tering the Sacrament, ward teaching, seminary training class, opening and
closing meetings with prayer, speaking in Sacramental meetings.

Teachers assisted in ward teaching, speaking in Sacramental meetings,
opening and closing meeting with prayer, praying in Sunday school, taking
special messages for the bishopric, and collecting ward maintenance and fast
offerings.

PRIESTHOOD QUORUMS 469

The deacons' activities consisted of opening and closing meetings with
prayer, speaking in Sacramental meetings, taking special messages for the
bishopric, passing the Sacrament, and assisting in maintaining order in Sunday
school. Frequently deacons are appointed to sit with children in the Kinder-
garten department each Sunday morning for the purpose of maintaining order
and assisting them with the Sacrament.

It is interesting to note how this general response was obtained. A
general supervisor is appointed with assistant supervisors, one for each grade
of the Lesser Priesthood. They are held accountable for the keeping of all
records and the making out of reports. One of their most important
activities, however, is to labor with those who are inactive, and also be guard-
ians or supervisors over the boys, not only in meetings, but at all times.
These brethren interest themselves in the work, play, and Church duties of
the members. The manner in which the activities are assigned and the
assignments followed up, is explained as follows: The boys receive a written
assignment by mail, one week before the duty is to be performed, and occasion-
ally this is followed up by a telephone call from the supervisor to make sure
the boy will fill the appointment. On the day the work is to be accomplished,
the supervisor makes record of the fulfilment or non-fulfilment of the as-
signment.

In addition to these activities, a number of special outings were
arranged, also parties and contests enjoyed among the quorums, which created
a better spirit and more interest in the activities. The brethren in charge of
the Aaronic priesthood of the ward are to be congratulated on the creditable
showing made by the members of the different quorums, and it is to be hoped
that, the same interest on the part of the boys and supervisors will manifest
itself during the year 1927.

The Little Things

Lord, help me watch the little things —
The careless word that burns and stings,
The unkind thought, which sorrow brings —

Help me, each day,
To do "unto the least of these"
The little things that cheer and please.
That laughter bring and wrath appease —

For this I pray.

I do not fear the greater ills —
The urge to steal, the hate that kills,
The bitter heart that conscience stills —

But this prayer wings
Up from my troubled heart alway,
That, with thy help, dear Lord, I may
Watch, and take heed of, every day,
The little things.
Durango, Col. MINERVA PlNKERTON TROY.

QjyLutual Work

Introduction to the M. I. A. Slogan — 1926-27
March 1927

"We stand for a testimony of the divine mission of Joseph Smith."
Monthly Themes:

October — How to obtain a testimony.

November — The announcement of the restoration of the gospel.

December — The need of the restoration of the gospel.

January — The heavens are opened and the Lord speaks.

February — The Book of Mormon a testimony of the divine mission of Joseph
Smith.

March- — Authority.

1 . Authority to Baptize — The Lord restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ
with all its gifts and blessings that were in the Primitive Church through
Joseph Smith the Prophet. Read John 3:5.

On one occasion in translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph and Oliver
came to a statement respecting baptism for the remission of sins, and went
into the woods to inquire of the Lord respecting this matter. While
they were thus calling upon the Lord, an angel, who announced himself as
John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, came
and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. He said he was acting
under the direction of Peter, James and John, the ancient Apostles who held
the keys of the Higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, which Joseph and Oliver
were assured would be given them in due time. Joseph and Oliver were
ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood by this John the Baptist, in the words
found in the Doctrine and Covenants, sections 13; 84:26, 27.

Joseph and Oliver were now authorized to baptize for the remission of
sins, in the manner given in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 20:37, 73,
which read.

This authority to baptize, so conferred, is a striking testimony of the
divine mission of Joseph Smith.

2. Authority to confer the Holy Ghost. — -Peter, in speaking to the
multitude and calling them to repentance and baptism for the remission of
sins, said further, "And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For
the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off,
even as many the Lord our God shall call." Acts 2:38-39.

The ancient apostles laid their hands on baptized converts, who
received the Holy Ghost. Acts 8:17.

Following the appearance of John the Baptist to Joseph and Oliver,
there shortly after appeared to them on the banks of the Susquehanna river,
the ancient apostles, Peter, James and John, who laid their hands upon Joseph
and Oliver and conferred upon them the Holy Priesthood after the order of
Melchizedek and ordained them as special witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ
and conferred upon them the keys of power to the Priesthood which they
themselves possessed. See History of the Church, Vol. 1, note, page 40-41 :
D. and C. 27:12, 13; 128:20.

By revelation through Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 1,
pages 287-291, Joseph Smith and the elders of the Church were told by the
Lord: "As I said unto mine apostles, I say unto you again, that every soul
who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission
of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost." See D. and C. 84:64-74.

MUTUAL WORK 471

And again it is said, "And whoso having faith you shall confirm in my
church, by the laying on of hands, and I will bestow the gift of the Holy
Ghost upon them." D. and C. 33:15.

The laying on of the hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost completes
the ordinance of baptism; and the Holy Ghost has the effect of pure know-
ledge and intelligence (D. and C. 121:26), and is powerful in expanding
the mind, enlightening the understanding, storing the intellect with present
knowledge, and can be received through the medium of no other principle
than the principle of righteousness. Thousands who have received the Holy
Ghost through the administration of the elders can testify of it's power,
which is a strong testimony of the divine calling and mission of the Prophet
Joseph.

3. Authority for Organization. — In the revelation on Church Organ-
ization and Government, Doctrine and Covenants, section 20, the Prophet
had shown to him upon which day, according to the Lord's will and com-
mandment, the Church of Jesus Christ should be organized once more upon the
earth. The Lord attested the genuineness of the Book of Mormon, gave
commandment respecting baptism, defined the functions of the several offices
in the Priesthood and prescribed the mode of baptism, administering the Sacra-
ment, and directed the keeping of records of church membership. In these
instructions the Lord speaks of apostles, high priests, elders, bishops, priests,
teachers, deacons, high councilors, setting forth their duties.

Joseph was called to be a seer, translator, a prophet and an apostle of
the Lord, and an elder of the Church through the will of the Father and the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sec. 21:1; 124:125.

This organization and later perfections that have come from the Lord
in the organization and government of his church, have aroused the wonder
and admiration of many peoples.

The perfection of the institution precludes the thought that it was
devised by man. All of which proves beyond doubt that Joseph Smith's
mission was divine.

4. Authority to lay on hands for the healing of the sick. — "Is any sick
among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer
of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." James 5:14, 15.

To the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord said in a revelation: "And
whosoever among you are sick, and have not faith to be healed, but believe,
shall be nourished with all tenderness, with herbs and mild food, and that not
by the hand of an enemy. And the elders of the church two or more, shall
be called, and shall pray for and lay their hands upon them in my name;
and if they die they shall die unto me, and if they live they shall live unto me."
D. and C. 42:43, 44.

Thousands of Latter-day Saints who have had faith have been admin-
istered to by the elders, through this authority, and have been healed, and bear
witness to the promises and blessings of the Lord.

These blessings and healings are a strong testimony of the divine mission'
of Joseph Smith.

What To Do In March

This is musical and literary month, in which a splendid musical and
literary evening should be provided. In connection therewith, interest should
be aroused in the stake and district contests to be held in May. The out-
standing idea is that each department of the M. I. A. will feature its best talent,
discovered in the musical and literary evening, for use in May, and that the
program for May will be made up, partly at least, of the best contest numbers
found in March. In this connection we call attention to the list of
contests published in the December number of the Era, pages 200. 201 and

4 72 IMPROVEMENT ERA

202, in which appear the contests for the M. I. A. Church grand finals,
joint and separate. Also the stake and district contests are enumerated. See
also the M. I. A. Year Round Recreation Contests, 1927, pages 22 and 25.

Make efficient efforts to interest the attendance of the membership
so as to keep your average up until the end of May.

Make an effort to win the new reading course 1927-28. See Decem-
ber Era. page 198, and arrange also for reports on the reading course books,
according to blank there suggested.

Check on the Senior Class and the M Men, in study and activity.

Send in your ward and stake efficiency reports for March, no later than
April 10.

How do your statistical and efficiency reports compare with other stakes,
as published in the January, February and March numbers of the Era?

Try to get 10 for March in your ward and stake on Reading the Book
of Mormon. It's easy, if you try.

Nevada Stake

When the Nevada stake was organized, E. T. Gibson, McGill, Nevada,
was chosen stake board member for the Junior department, Scouting and
Advanced Juniors. Several troops have been organized by him since then,
notably at McGill and Preston. In McGill there is a Community League,
and Mr. Gibson has been made director and is using every opportunity to work
for the benefit of the Boy Scouts. Last Summer they took an outing to the
surrounding creeks, and a little cabin was given to the boys and girls. They
had a four-days' outing. The old cabin was torn down and moved to a
new camp where a new cabin was built. The boys did all the work and
made a good job of it.

Understanding in Singing

Nothing else can add so much to the effectiveness of the singing in the
assemblies of the auxiliary organizations of the Latter-day Saints as for each
individual to sing with understanding. To do so one must know the text
thoroughly, and must put his whole soul into the music. Too many sing their
songs meaninglessly ; without the spirit, song is dead. That is the reason the
audience don't get it. In the profession they call it, "putting it over."
Unless you put your song over, you may as well not sing. You must get
the spirituality of a sacred song; you must feel what you are singing; get
the atmosphere; sing the words clearly and distinctly, don't mouth them.
Let the vowels stand out plain. A smooth tone, pure "legato" preparation,
should be your first thought; to do it right should be your motto; then
success will crown your efforts. Learn to be thorough in all that you do.
When asked to sing, say, "Yes, I'll do my best."

We ought to have songs of a high standard. You would be surprised
to know how many beautiful anthems there are that we do not sing in our
communities. If you want good congregational singing or a good choir,
you must get music that appeals to your singers. Make use of the talents
God has given you. Help to make the hearts of the people rejoice. Music
must not be too difficult, but singable, with words appropriate to the services.
Nothing will add more to the spirituality of a meeting than good singing. —
Charles Kent, supervisor of music, public schools, Rock Springs, Wyoming.

First Annual Archers' Tournament

CACHE VALLEY COUNCIL, B. S. A.

Logan, Utah

Last November, the First Annual Archers' Tournament of the Cache
Valley Council, B. S. A., was held at Logan, Utah, and prizes were awarded

MUTUAL WORK

473

by the Logan Hardware Company, both individual prize and troop prize.
Troops No. 6, 12, and 4 took part. The distances were 60 yards, 50 yards
and 40 yards. The winner in the individual score was Comrade Johnson.

troop 6, score 624 in all scores. The second place in the individual score
was Delbert Worley, troop 4, 5 33; third place, individual score, Delbert
Stiener, troop 4, 450. Thirty arrows were shot at 60 yards, and the same
number at 50 and 40 yards. Each contestant shot three arrows. Twenty
points were awarded for every arrow making a hit. The rules and regulations
may be of interest to other Boy Scout organizations, and we therefore give
them in full:

All materials used in contest — as bows, arrows, strings, etc. — must have been
made by the contestant.

1. The regulation target — 4 feet in diameter — shall be used as follows: gold
9.6" diameter, remaining ring 4.8" wide. The value of the colors, gold 9, red 7, blue
5, black 3, white 1.

2.
follows :

The American Round shall be used and the points shall be awarded as

A — Score.

B — Total Hits — one point for each hit.

C — The archer having the greatest total by adding both hits and score
shall be declared winner in the individual contest. In case of'tie the award shall
be made to the archer having the greatest number of hits.
American Round:

30 arrows at 60 yards.

30 arrows at 50 yards.

30 arrows at 40 yards.

4

3. Distance Shooting —

Each contestant shall shoot 3 arrows for distance — arrows falling short of 150
yards shall not be counted as score. 5 points shall be awarded for every arrow
carrying over 150 yards. 1 point extra shall be awarded for every yard over the
150 yards.

4. Roving —

The judge shall select at random objects without regard for distance and contest-
ants shall be allowed three arrows each and shall shoot at the object. 20 points
shall be awarded for every arrow making a hit. Points shall be counted for hits.

474

IMPROVEMENT ERA

5. Troop Score —

In case of three scouts shooting for one troop, an average of the aggregate score
of all events shall be taken and the result shall be called the troop score.

In case just one boy represents a troop, he shall be allowed to shoot three times
and take an average or he can let his individual first score stand as the troop score.
The method to be used shall be determined upon before the meet.

6. Each archer shall shoot ten arrows — comprising one end of 10 arrows. The
arrows shall then be drawn from the target and scored.

7. An arrow hitting two colors shall count as hitting the inner one.

Golden Eagle nine weeks old; photo taken by Christen Hansen, Scoutmaster,

Troop 45, Mink Creek, Idaho. Nest from which the eagle was taken is on

Mr. Hansen's farm.

Seminary at Midway, Idaho

The picture shows the L. D. S. Seminary building at Midway, near
Menan, Idaho. The ground for this building was broken August 4 ; sem-
inary work began in it September 23, and it was dedicated November 21,
1926, by Elder Richard R. Lyman of the Council of the Twelve. One
hundred per cent of the Latter-day Saint Midway high school students are en-
rolled, besides six others not members of the Church, and the students are
showing much interest in their new field of study.

MUTUAL WORK

475

To the right is Mr. Melvin Luke, principal of the High School, who is a strong
supporter of the Seminary; next to him is Mr. M. D. Clayson, principal of the
Seminary.

"I must say that the Era proves to be a splendid help to us in our
seminary work." — Merrill D. Clayson, principal Midway L. D. S. Seminary,
Menan, Idaho.

"The Old Homestead"

"The Old Homestead" was the Nauvoo house of the Prophet Joseph
Smith previous to the completion of the Mansion house. The old home

Photo By Dr. J. O. Ellsworth

faces the Mississippi river to the South and is in excellent state of preser-
vation. The property is now owned and cared for by the Reorganized church.

4 76 IMPROVEMENT ERA

Summit Stake Outing

Supt. Robert S. Hillier, Y. M. M. I. A., Hoytsville, Utah, reports a
splendid time at the Fathers and Sons' outing of the Summit stake in the
Fall of 1926. David Sharp. Jr.. was in charge, and they had a splendid time,
with activity every moment. E. L. Hansen of the stake superintendency
welcomed the crowd by especially excellent preparation. They named the
camp. "Camp Bald Mountain." elevation 9000 ft. This prominent mountain
with its pal, "Reed's Peak," arose in majesty like a sentinel of protection.
On the second day most of the crowd hiked to the top of Bald Mountain.
The boys, on reaching the summit, exclaimed, "What a 'whopper' the world
is!" The campfire programs in the evenings were very interesting, following
the sports throughout each of the three days. When the time came for
returning, all felt reluctant to leave for home, they had enjoyed so good a
time in their outing.

Now is a good time to consider details for the Summer outing, 1927.

Maricopa in the Lead

Recently we announced that, with 177 Life Memberships, the Rigby
stake stood at the head of the Church in this activity of the Y. M. M. I. A.
Since then the Maricopa stake, Arizona, has raised its Life Memberships to
215, placing that stake at the head of the Church to date. We certainly
appreciate the splendid work of the stakes mentioned, and that of many others,
for that matter, which are following up nobly in this activity, to aid materially
in accelerating the splendid labors of the Y. M. M. I. A. throughout the
Church, and to be a help to all the organizations.

Current Events

A Study for the M. I. A. Senior Classes, 1926-27

(Prepared by the Advanced Senior Committee)

LESSONS FOR MARCH. 1927

I — POLITICS AND INDUSTRY

1 . The Nicaraguan Trouble.

The question has been asked in Congress if certain forces are drawing
us into war with Mexico because of recent armed intervention in Nicaragua.
Behind the Nicaraguan problem looms our Mexican problem, which seems to
be a difficult one to solve at the present time. Throughout Latin America
there seems to be a feeling against the United States, whether justified or
not, and Mexico seems to be taking the leading part in opposition to our
government: that is. she is trying to weaken American prestige in Central
America, and if she can do that she thinks that she can get the support of
South American countries. Conditions which seriously threaten and affect
American lives and property endanger the stability of Central America and
thus jeopardize the rights granted by Nicaragua to the United States for the
construction of a canal.

The whole difficulty seems to have arisen over the question of the
presidency of Nicaragua. Our government recognizes Adolphus Diaz, the
Mexican government recognizes Juan B. Sacasa, and President Diaz has ap-
pealed to the United States for help in protecting the lives and property of
Americans and other foreigners in Nicaragua, and this government is coming
to his support on that ground.

President Coolidge thinks that it is our duty to take such steps as may
be necessary for the preservation of the lives and property and interests of the
citizens of Nicaragua, as well as of our own government, and that, in doing

MUTUAL WORK 4 77

so, he is only following precedent. Senator Wm. E. Borah is opposed to
the administration's course and argues that Sacasa's claim to the presidency
is constitutionally sound.

QUESTIONS

1. Where is Nicaragua? 2. What are her principal industries? 3. Of
what benefit is it to the United States to see that a stable and constitutional
government in Nicaragua is preserved? 4. Why is Mexico so concerned? 5. In what
way would she be benefited? 6. In what way does, the settlement of the Nicaraguan
question concern nations of Europe? Reference: Literary Digest, Jan. 22, 1927,
pp. 5-7; Time, 17, 1927, p. 10.

2. The Navy Question.

"In 1924, Congress authorized the construction of eight cruisers. Ap-
propriations were subsequently made for the beginning work on five of these
vessels. President Coolidge is quite willing to agree to the authorization of
ten cruisers in addition to the eight already authorized, but does not want
appropriations made for them at this time, and the house has substantiated
him."

"The United States now has ten cruisers to forty for Great Britain and
ninety for Japan, but all of these are of pre-war construction. The United
States is now building two and has appropriated for three more. Great
Britain is building eleven and has appropriated for three more; Japan is
building six."

QUESTIONS

1. What is your opinion on this subject? 2. Do you think President Coolidge
is right in not wanting to make appropriations for more cruisers at the present time,
or is he too economical on this question? 3. Why should we increase our navy?
Why not? 4. Is economy always the best thing? If not, why not? 5. What is the
difference between economy and parsimony? 6. Is there something else back of the
problem besides economy? 7. Is it necessary for the United States to be mistress
of the seas and thus increase her navy, or should she let England retain that status?
8. If war is going to be stopped, is it necessary to go building cruisers and battleships?
If so, why? If not, why not? Reference: Literary Digest, January 2 2, 192 7, pp. 8-9.

3 . The Soldiers' Bonus.

Congress at the present time is asked to pass laws to make it easier
for the bonus certificate holders to realize a little ready cash, and the
banks are willing to come to their assistance. Beginning January 3 of this
year, the soldiers' bonus certificate has a loan value amounting to $8.79 on
each $100 of face value. It is estimated that more than 2,800,000 of these
insurance certificates are in existence and that the average loan value is about
$90. If a national or state bank lends money on these certificates, the
Federal Reserve Banks will re-discount these notes so as to give the loaning
bank a 2% profit. Since January 3, veterans all over the country have
flocked to the banks to get loans on these certificates, and banks consider it
is a civic duty to help these men.

QUESTIONS

1. What do you think about this question? 2. Would loans made against
these certificates be good or bad loans from the point of view of commercial banks:
that is, are they productive loans? 3. What effect would these loans have upon
inflation? 4. If loans should be made upon these certificates, ought not they to be
made by the government itself rather than by banks? 5. Since the Veteran's Bureau
will redeem all unpaid notes at maturity, is there any danger of these loans becoming
"frozen?" 6. Won't loans on these certificates likely stimulate business and trade

4 78 IMPROVEMENT ERA

and thus help business where it otherwise might have slowed up? Reference: Literary
Digest, January 2 2, 192 7, pp. 13-14.

4. New Immigration Quotas.

The present immigration law is recognized as the best one that we have
ever had and yet it has many faults. When the new quota system, under
which immigration has been restricted since the 1924 act, became a law.
Congress provided that a nation's quota should be 2% of the number of
persons born in that country who were living in the United States in 1890.
This provision was made to apply until June 30, 1927. The new im-
migration quotas, therefore, will go into effect soon.

Many are opposed to the immigration law as it now stands, on the
ground that the quota is based upon foreign born rather than upon the
people who are born here. But we must remember that no matter how
meritorious any law may be, it will always have its advocates and critics.
By the present quota, immigration admits 2% of the foreign born of each
country residing in the United States in 1890 and it seems to have proved
very satisfactory. It might be amended, however, in order to admit wives
and children of those who have signified their intentions of becoming natural-
ized citizens of this country; but the new plan is based upon the "national
origin basis" and it will greatly increase the quotas of some countries and
reduce it in others.

QUESTIONS

1. What is your opinion on this question? 2. Do you think the present
immigration law is too strict or too liberal? 3. What countries would be affected
by a law based upon estimated quotas on the "national origin" basis? 4. How would
such a basis affect England, Germany and France? Reference: Literary Digest,
January 22, 1927, p. 14

ii — religious and social movements
1 — Divorce

See Literary Digest, January 8, 1927, page 30.

Divorce in the United States is increasing alarmingly. The Department
of Commerce urges the need of uniform law governing divorce and to take
measures that will prevent those marriages that lead from the altar to the
court. There is now one divorce to every seven marriages. In 1924 there
were 170,952 divorces in the United States; in 1925, 175,495.

What reason is generally given for divorce? What other reason can you give?
What do you think of the statement that "those who would make divorce more difficult
will attack the evil at the wrong end?" What justifies divorce?

2 — Why do men go wrong?

See Literary Digest, January 8, 1927, page 32

Dean Charles R. Brown of the Yale Divinity School claims that behavior
is not the result of heredity and environment, insisting that they can be over-
come "even though the dice may be loaded against a man at the start." When
people do wrong, he asserts, "it's because they want to and for no other
reason." Do you agree with the Dean? Justify your stand.

3 — Our Greatest Problem

See Literary Digest, January 1, 1927, page 24.

The National Economic League recently sent out a questionnaire to the

MUTUAL WORK 4 79

members of the National Council, asking What is our greatest problem? The
answers have been tabulated as follows:

Lawlessness, disrespect for law 1203

Administration of justice 1 173

World Court _ 950

Prohibition _ 946

Taxation .— 75 8

Ethical, Moral and Religious Training 701

Agriculture 692

Do you think there is an abnormal amount of lawlessness and disrespect for law
existing in this country at present? Justify your answer.
What remedies can you offer?

4— AN INTERESTING QUESTIONNAIRE

See Literary Digest, January 15, 1927, page 30.

Two hundred newspapers in sixteen cities contained a questionnaire re-
cently. One hundred twenty-five thousand people answered. The question-
naire was prepared by one hundred clergymen and was, sent out to ascertain
what America believes about fundamental religious questions. The following
table gives the results:

QUESTION

Yes No

1. Do you believe in God? 91% 9%

2. Do you believe in immortality? 88% 12%

3. Do you believe in prayer as a means of personal relation-

ship with God? . 8 8% 12%

4. Do you believe that Jesus was divine as no other man was

divine 8 5 % 1 5 %

5. Do you regard the Bible as inspired in a sense that no

other literature could be said to be inspired? 85% 15%

6. Are you an active member of any church? 77% 23%

7. Do you regularly attend any religious services? 76% 24%

8. Would you be willing to have your family grow up in a

community in which there is no church? 13% 87%

9. Do you regularly have family worship in your home?__„42% 58%

10. Were you brought up in a religious home? 8 7% 13%

11. Do you send your children to any school of religious

instruction ? 7 2 % 2 8 %

12. Do you think that religion in some form is a necessary

element of life for the individual and for the community 8 7% 1 V,r

What is the value of the above statistics?

5 — ETHICS OF DEFENDING CRIMINALS
See Literary Digest, January 15, 1927, pages 31-32

Lawyers are beginning to ask whether is is right for them to defend a man
they know to be guilty. Read what a religious weekly says about the
subject.

How far do you think a lawyer should go in defending a client?

480

IMPROVEMENT ERA

Y. M. M. I. A. Statistical Report January, 1927

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Alpine

1000
480

18
12

14
12

115

97

147
148

284
113

160

366

912
518

87
79

71
89

121

72

63

222

501

Bear River ..

303

314
706

6
14

4
14

32
131

93

179

62
179

16
37

120
236

323
762

25
90

56

83

39
108

11

2 7

168

188

476

Box Elder

771

14

14

139

270

195

21

260

885

114

179

131

2 3

164

611

Cache . -

566

8

6

71

82

143

202

498

47

56

68

126

29/

Cottonwood

in

10

10

117

83

215

26

265

706

81

55

129

16

204

485

497
476
9 77

12
9
8

12
9
8

106
80
89

177

64

158

1 17
203
221

29
97

171
216
257

600
563
822

79
58
72

99
43
67

124
124

20
59

117
159
176

392

384

Ensign

498

Garfield

308

8

5

39

60

43

58

200

■ 25

24

17

31

91

1000

1400

279

9

14

7

9

14
6

92

149

56

92

129

64

239

243

85

104

90
32

323
319

57

850
930
294

79

117

37

72
98
36

165

160

61

54
70
18

241

353

43

611

798

Gunnison

195

500

1011

296

228

1407

10

16

5

6

12

7

15

4

6

12

62

125

31

53

176

134

154

71

66

263

134

242
81
39

339

9

52

29

245

110
314
110
67
342

449
887
293
254
1365

46
99
28
40
145

70

107

30

47

187

80

167

47

23

188

5
50

17
146

54

235

33

46

276

255

658

138

193

Liberty

924

Logan

597

11

11

115

106

184

12

289

706

88

61

103

9

162

423

Millard

344

8

6

44

77

109

103

333

34

35

54

4/

170

205
462

10
7

8
6

62

52

57
54

101
89

9
19

57
119

286
333

49
41

41
25

5 3
56

7
9

42
91

192

North Davis ..

222

North Sanpete

710

10

10

86

84

225

10

254

659

68

46

138

1

180

439

North Sevier ..

2 75

6

6

40

57

72

14

47

230

32

28

46

11

35

152

North Weber

634

13

13

102

48

168

8

254

580

82

27

89

5

14&

349

848
469

10
5

10
5

98

67

144
73

240
121

66

9

265
177

813

447

72
56

62

33

130
69

44
4

169
116

4/9

Oquirrh

278

Palmyra ,

487

8

8

69

119

128

41

202

559

45

64

74

24

134

341

Panguitch 1

260

6

2

12

16

35

18

37

118

11

12

2 8

11

33

87

Pa rowan

532

1 1

11

72

163

115

1

118

469

51

114

55

1

6/

288

Pioneer

772

10

10

96

128

206

38

230

698

73

61

121

32

154

441

Roosevelt

303

12

1 2

83

98

65

46

113

405

60

74

45

26

83

288

St. George _

680

14

12

127

189

158

63

193

730

84

116

97

25

136

458

Salt Lake

-1077

13

13

140

140

256

109

279

924

106

81

163

65

187

602

San Juan

197.

4

4

31

51

55

39

35

211

25

43

45

23

24

160

353
534

6
8

4
8

41

71

64
92

85
175

61
38

74

203

325
579

26
63

21
40

53
104

17
22

72
136

189

South Davis .

365

South Sevier ..

304

8

5

53

74

18

11

109

265

31

44

9

18

48

150

Summit

7.76

14

12

47

52

61

55

64

279

32

25

41

2 6

28

152

271
390
410

5

9

10

5
7

10

38
51
79

79

77
120

16

107
128

18

27

100
108
139

251
370
466

26
33
60

53
43
84

14
39
90

12

12

73
39
95

178

166

Uintah

329

Utah

1 100

16

16

144

178

301

38

342

1003

101

112

196

20

2 72

701

Wasatch

3 76

9

9

71

91

108

136

406

55

68

76

127

326

Weber

711
242

9
6

8
2

72
12

73
26

127
29

60
9

175
20

507
96

55
9

35
6

67
13

20

7

114
3

291

Bannock

38

Bear Lake

363

11

11

95

83

118

140

436

59

55

79

81

274

223
365
305
172

6
9
9
6

6

8
7
6

36
67
61
40

82

77

110

38

48
77
69
44

12

6

24

2

38
66
95
59

216
293
359
183

16

54
48
35

16

48
66
46

17

52
45
20

5

3

19

1

9
50
56
34

63

207

234

Cassia

136

Curlew

124

44

56

34

51

185

26

22

17

26

91

Franklin

420

1 1

11

103

113

152

182

550

66

61

90

109

3 26

Fremont .

658

14

14

116

207

193

28

206

750

102

178

124

22

140

566

178

577

8
12

8
6

72
60

77
103

27
86

11

22

32
76

219

347

58

46

46
38

16

37

5
10

22
26

147

Idaho Falls _..

157

Malad

287

8

6

50

77

67

11

91

296

38

43

52

4

56

193

MUTUAL WORK

481

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Minidoka

240

8

7

51

67

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64

221

38

33

25

32

128

Montpelier

367

14

14

87

89

127

7

126

436

52

57

74

3

77

263

Oneida .

370

11

11

104

98

122

18

137

479

73

63

60

14

108

318

Pocatello

561

10

10

102

115

131

24

162

534

74

90

94

27

122

407

Raft River ._.

170

8

8

56

64

35

13

50

218

32

24

17

6

29

108

Rigby

521

13

9

109

136

8?

45

11

463

57

73

48

77

78

7 83

Shelley

317

9

6

66

93

66

58

283

35

44

37

53

169

290

370

12

10

7
9

39
59

62
100

67
52

64
71

232
282

30
50

43
53

32
47

41
55

146

Yellowstone „

205

Big Horn

325

7

7

53

77

50

41

73

294

?8

196

128
238

5
9

5

7

25
50

65

55

20
62

40
41

45
50

195

258

20
34

57
32

17

28

32
30

29
35

155

Lethbridge

159

Lyman _.

220

7

7

58

91

63

90

302

34

83

37

57

71 1

Maricopa

430

8

8

81

105

131

11

129

457

59

90

89

7

86

331

Moapa _ _

236

174

9
5

9
3

70
30

90
40

99
18

10
36

109
83

378
207

50
20

46
15

63

1 1

6
9

84
26

?4Q

Nevada

81

Snowflake . _

280

10

8

48

167

39

13

56

323

38

83

23

7

43

194

Star Valley ..

359

1 1

11

117

73

106

102

398

69

39

48

48

204

Taylor

331

6

6

74

94

139

54

83

444

60

77

101

3?

53

373

Woodruff

468

6

6

42

73

65

7

78

265

30

39

33

6

42

150

Young

95

6

6

34

27

48

14

44

167

26

22

43

12

37

140

Calif. Mission

1046

34

31

189

315

198

30

161

893

165

187

148

4

117

621

N. W. States

298

6

37

93

54

12

23

219

24

41

20

10

14

109

Y. M. M. I. A. Efficiency Report, January, 1927

o.

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a

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3

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Alpine

9

6

8

8

8

3

10

6

9

8

75

Bear River

10

6

10

10

9

8

10

8

10

10

91

Beaver

10

6

8

3

8

6

6

9

8

8

72

Benson ._ ... |

10 |
10

6
10

10 |
10

10 1
8

7 1
8

6 !
8

8 1
9

8
9

10
10

10
10

85

Box Elder

92

Cache

9

6

...

10

10

7

10

8

10

8

78

Cottonwood

10

10

10

10

10

5

6

7

10

9

87

Deseret ...

10
10

7
10

10
10

10
9

' 7
10

8
8

10
8

10
7

7
10

8
10

87

Emery ,

92

Ensign

9

6

10

10

10

9

10

8

10

10

92

Garfield

6

5

10

6

4

10

7

4

10

10

72

Granite

9

7

10
10

10
10

9
10

10
10

6
6

8
8

6
3

10
10

10
10

88

Grant

84

Gunnison

10

10

10

4

10

7

7

7

10

10

85

Hyrum

9
9

6

10

7
1 9

6
9

7
8

6

4

7
8

6
6

7
9

7
8

69

Jordan

80

Juab

10

5

8

6

7

7

7

7

8

8

73

Kanab

10

10

10

8

5

9

10

8

7

10

87

Liberty

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

100

Logan

10

6

10

10

10

4

9

9

10

9

87

Millard

10

5

8

7

8

4

8

4

8

6

68

Morgan

10

10

8

4

6

7

10

10

8

7

80

North Davis ..

7

10

1 io

10

8

7

9

8

10

10

89

North Sanpete

9

10

1 io

10

10

7

10

7

5

6

84

482

IMPROVEMENT ERA

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a

North Sevier _
North Weber .

Ogden

Oquirrh

Palmyra

Panguitch

Parowan

Pioneer

Roosevelt

St. George

Salt Lake

San Juan

Sevier

South Davis ,__
South Sevier

Summit

Tintic ,

Tooele

Uintah

Utah

Wasatch I

Weber

Bannock

Bear Lake

Blaine

Boise

Burley

Cassia

Curlew

Franklin

Fremont

Idaho

Idaho Falls .__.

Malad

Minidoka i

Montpelier

Oneida

Pocatello

Raft River _...

Rigby

Shelley ,

Teton

Yellowstone _

Big Horn

Juarez

Lethbridge

Lyman

Maricopa

Moapa

Nevada

Snowflake

Star Valley _.._

Taylor

Woodruff

Young

Calif. Mission
N. W. States

8

10

9

9

8 1

9

6

10

10

8 1

10

6

10

10

9

10

6

10

10

10

10

6

9

10

9

5

10

4

2

4

9

6

8

7

9

9

6

9

6

10

10

10

8

2

3

10

6

9

10

9

9

7

10

10

10

10

10

10

5

5

9

6

8

8

8

10

6

10

8

8

9

6

6

7

6

10

5

9

10

6

9

10

10

10

4

1 9

4

8

2

4

1 io

10

10

4

8

1 9

10

9

8

8

10

10

10

10

9 1

7

6

8

5

8

4

4

2

2

4

10

6

9

5

6

10

3

10

10

10

8

10

9

5

7

10

7

6

8

7

10

10

10

10

10

10

5

8

4

10

6

10

10

7

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

9

6

5

10

8

8

10

10

10

10

7

9

6

7

5

8

10

6

9

4

5

10

10

10

10

9

9

10

10

10

9 1

10

5

6

1

9

6

7

6

5

9

6

10

7

7

8

6

10

3

3

8

10

10

3

4

9

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

10

8

10

6

10

10

10

10

10

9

8

7 1

10

10

10

10

10 |

10

7

8

4

6 1

10

4

?

4

10

6

7

6

6 I

10

5

8

3

8 |

10

10

10

10

10

6

6

9

10

7 1

10

10

10

7

2 1

9

10

9

4

4 1

7

5

8

4

2 1

2
7
7
9
8
7
7

10
6
3
9
9
4

10
5
6

7
7
4

10
7
6

10
9
7
6
5
8
3

10
4
7
8

10
7
8

10

10
5

10

3
7

10
6

10

4
10
10

9
10

6

7
7
7
10
10
6
6

10

7

1

10

10

7

7

10

10

10

10

10

9

9

7

8

9

10

7

8

10

8

9

10

10

10

8

10

10

5

7

9

10

7

6

5

10
9

10
9
6
5
7
8
6

10
6

10
6
7
8
6
6
7
8
8
4
2
9

6

10

10

10

10

9

8

7

7

9

8

10

10

7

9

8

10

10

10

9

10

10

5

10

10

7

7

9

6

7

9

9

10

10

~5
10

10
7
9

10
5
6
9
5

10
9
9

10
4
6

10

10

7

10

10

4

10

10

3

6

9

10

5

9

10

10

8

9

5

10

7

10

10

10

10

2

6
10

9
10
10

6

9
10

8

7
10

7
10
10

10
5
8
9
6

10
4
9

10
7
7

10
4

10

10

10
6
8
9

10
4
5

10

10
8

10

10

10
4

10
9
4
5
8

10
7
9

10

69
90
90
89
91
45
73
83
73
72
90
77
80
80
63
79
86
56
85
83
88
73
29
78
88
74
70

100
65
89

100
89
79
91
63
73
87
98
52
70
85
75
76
94
93
96
78
99
82
39
65
74
98
73
79
81
48

(Passing Event

Five days for labor was predicted Feb. 13, at a social dinner in New
York, by Frank Morrison, secretary of the American Federation of Labor.
The banquet was given by typographers in honor of Charles P. Howard, of
Chicago, president of the International Typographical Union.

The total population of the United States according to estimates pub-
lished Feb. 1, 1927, is now 118,628,000, as compared to -105,710,620 in
1920. The population of Utah is placed at 522.000; Idaho, 534,000;
Arizona, 459,000; Nevada, 77,407; Colorado, 1,074,000; California,
4,433,000; Montana, 714,000, and Wyoming 241,000.

The Manchurian war lord, Marshal Chan Tso-Lin, is reported as
successfully sweeping southward on Hankow. On Feb. 15, he was reported
to have taken possession of all territory north of the Yellow river. It is
said that the uncertain attitude of Marshal Wu Pei-Fu in the province of
Honan has made the Chinese civil war a three-cornered affair.

The first Canadian minister to the United States, Vincent Massey, left
Toronto for Washington on Feb. 14, 1927. The secretarial staff is as
follows: First secretary, Laurent Beaudry, of Quebec City, formerly of the
prime minister's secretariat; Hume Wrong, of the University of Toronto;
A. Stone of Chatham, Ont., and M. Mahoney, the present Canadian rep-
resentative at Washington.

Trade relations between prehistoric Indians of the Columbia River valley
and distant groups existed, according to evidences brought to light recently.
Among the objects found in the valley are Catlinite pipes from Minnesota
and the southwestern pueblo regions; abalone shell charms from Alaska;
haliotis shells from southern California, and dentarium beads from the
Pacific Coast. The artifacts are now in the Smithsonian Institution. They
were found by Mr. Kreiger, curator of ethnology at the National Museum.

The British parliament was opened Feb. 8. The king, in his speech
from the throne, dealt largely with the Chinese difficulty and emphasized
Great Britain's '"traditional policy of non-interference in the internal affairs
of China." Premier Baldwin declared that the government was still deter-
mined to land troops in Shanghai "for the protection of British lives." In
the event, however, of the danger of civil strife, affecting the Shanghai
district passing entirely away, the necessity of such a landing would no
longer exist.

The victims of automobiles in seventy-eight cities in the United States
were 473 during the first four weeks of the present year, according to a report
to the Commerce Department, Washington, published February 13, 1927.
Fatal accidents in the seventy-eight cities where the count is kept, are said to
have declined materially since last fall, the largest number of persons having
been killed in the four weeks ending November 6, when the total was 676.
Most of the deaths occurred in the city streets, though a number of fatalities
on highways were reported.

The question of the membership of the United States in the World court
remains where it was before the present session of Congress. On Feb. 9,
1927, Senator Trammell, of Florida, urged the consideration of a resolution
that the ratification previously passed be rescinded, but the proposition was
promptly shelved. Our government is still waiting for replies from the gov-
ernments that are interested in the permanent court of international justice,
and it is not impossible that a way to co-operation may still be found, pro-
vided that is what the great powers really desire.

Joseph M. Anderson, president and manager of the Morgan Canning
Company, passed away in his home in Logan. Utah. Feb. 15, 1927, of

484 IMPROVEMENT ERA

high blood pressure which culminated in a paralytic stroke. Mr. Anderson
and his brother, James Anderson, who died not long ago, were the founders
of the Morgan Canning Co. He moved to Logan in 1916. He was born
in Peterson on May 1, 1872. He was educated in the Morgan county
schools and later in the Brigham Young College. In Morgan he was active
in Church duties, also a member of the Mutual board of the Cache stake
at the time of his death.

Civil war is raging in Nicaragua between the Conservatives and Liberals.
A battle was in progress, Feb. 8, 1927, in the town of Chinandega, sixty
miles from Managua. General Parajon was in command of the liberals, while
General Viguez commanded conservative forces. On Feb. 13, the Con-
servatives were reported to have 4000 troops in Matagalpa territory and the
Liberals little more than 2000. Three hundred additional troops were
sent from Managua, F«b. 12, for Matagalpa. toward which the Liberal Gen-
eral Parajon is reported to be heading. Parajon has plenty of ammunition,
which he captured at Chinandega where the Conservatives had an ammunition
depot. The Conservative General Gomez is in command of the forces which
expected to engage in battle with the Liberals.

Wm. D. Riter, a prominent Salt Lake attorney, passed away in
Washington, D. C, Jan. 18, 1927. He was a son of W. W. Riter and Susan
Denton Riter, born Aug. 10, 1874, in Salt Lake City. Following his
graduation from Columbia in 1897 with the degree of LL. B., he made
arrangements to enter private practice, but dropped them to enlist in the
Utah artillery, then forming for service in the Spanish- American war.. Mr.
Riter ,was appointed an assistant jUnited States attorney general April 15,
1921, and held this post until Jnauary 15, 1924, when he resigned to take
up private practice in Washington, D. C, in association with Francis G.
Matson, also of Salt Lake. He is survived by his widow, formerly Miss
Lennie Louise Savage of Salt Lake, to whom he was married in 1901, and
by three children, Virginia, Helen Louise and Denton Savage Riter.

Expensive funeral rites for the late Emperor Yoshihito, 123rd rular of
Japan, were held Feb. 7, 1927. The emperor died last Christmas day.
but the body has been in the imperial palace since that day. On the date men-
tioned the casket with its contents was started on its way to the Shinjuku
gardens for the religious ceremonies preceding the burial. With night swiftly
falling, the procession, made up of 9,000 persons, ranging from mourning
royalty to police officials, took a shadowy appearance. A million Japanese
crouched on their heels along the four-mile route of the procession with their
heads bowed in prayer as the catafalque moved from the imperial palace.
The muffled booming of distant cannon added to the impressiveness of the
spectacle — the most costly event of its kind in the history of the timeless
Orient. More than 4,500,00 yen ($2,500,000) was spent for the cere-
monies.

Several changes in the Iritual of the Church pf England are proposed,
as permissible, by the house of bishops, as published Feb. 7, 1927. The
proposal were presented at a convocation of the synods of the English
church — those of Canterbury and York. Among changes proposed is the
elimination of the word "obey"' from the marriage service. Other changes
contemplated include: shortening of morning and evening prayer, the op-
tional use of the Athanasian creed, increased prayers of thanksgiving, per-
mission for extempore prayer by priests at the end of the services, direction
for the use of vestments in the communion services, "softening of the com-
mination service," which proclaims the anger of God against the impenitent,
and removal of the word "curses" and the inclusion of prayers for the
"faithful departed" in the burial service. The proposed changes will be
carried out if they are approved by the present convocation, by the house of
bishops in March and by the national assembly in July.

Limitation of the naval strength of nations is the subject of a note
which President Coolidge, Feb. 10, 1927, sent to Great Britain, France,
Italy and Japan, suggesting that their governments empower their delegates

PASSING EVENTS 485

at the forthcoming meeting of the preparatory commission for the disarma-
ment conference at Geneva to negotiate and conclude an agreement supple-
menting the Washington treaty of 1921, on that subject. Congress, in a
special message was notified of the action taken by the president. The note
seems to have come as a surprise to all interested, but it has been received
favorably both at home and abroad. Even the pope is prompted to laud
America's "magnificent world leadership in favor of peace." Mussolini
could not say anything, until he had studied the note carefully. In London
public opinion seems to hesitate between hope for success and fear that
the difficulties at present are insurmountable. Experts at Geneva believe
that if the conference materializes, France and Italy will follow the lead
of the United States and accept with "reservations." Later it has developed
that France and Italy do not favor such a conference.

A plague of mice was reported by residents of the lowlands of Kern
county, Cal., Jan. 19, 1927, and a call for expert aid against the invasion
was issued by farmers of the stricken region. It seems that the mice have
been driven out of Buena Vista lake bed, where sheep had consumed
everything that could be eaten, whereupon the mice began an emigration
en masse to other feeding grounds, devouring or dstroying everything on
their route of march, even the clothes of the people. Thousands upon
thousands have been killed by poisoned grain or poison gas, but the supply
seems to be inexhaustible. They have multiplied rapidly, because their
national enemies, such as coyotes, wildcats, hawks, etc., have been almost
exterminated. It is said that hawks and owls and even wild ducks, by
the thousands, have come from afar and joined in the war upon the pests.
The seriousness of the peril may be judged from the report that the invaders
were swarming over oil derricks in the Kern oil fields in such numbers as to
make it necessary to cease all activities there, for the time being.

Through a gas explosion, six persons were killed and many injured, on
Jan. 26, 1927, near Turner, Idaho, in a hall used by the Latter-day Saints
as a recreation hall as well as a place of worship. A basketball game was
in progress between teams from Turner and Central, and quite a crowd
had gathered to witness the performance. During the play the lights
went out, and someone went down into the basement to investigate the
cause of it. Somebody lighted a match. An explosion occurred. The walls
at the rear end of the building fell out, and the plaster ceiling fell on the
assembled crowd. There was a rush for the front exit, and most of those
in the building had made their way out to safety when the front walls
of the structure also gave way. Several of the dead bodies and the injured
were found around the entrance. The dead are: T. James M'Cann, rancher
of Turner and custodian of the hall; Brigham M'Cann, his brother, also
a rancher; two children of James M'Cann; Elmer Anderson, of Central,
basketball player and Irel D. Lowe, Central, also a member of the team.

"Oocytin" is the name of a substance which starts the development of
germs of life, already lying dormant in an egg, according to an announcement
by Dr. Guy W. Clark and Dr. Paul W. Sharp of the biochemistry depart-
ment at the University of California. The substance is extracted from the
blood of various animals, and it is claimed for it that it has the power
of fertilizing and producing new individuals from the egg of the common
sea urchin. However, not to be misunderstood, the doctors stress the fact
that the question has nothing to do with the development of life chemically,
but merely acts as a spark or trigger-pull to start the life processes into
the development of individual animals from the egg. The origin of life is as
much of a mystery as ever, as far as science is concerned. Dr. Clark says
that "these chemically started animals have not lived more than two or
three days. There seems to be something lacking in the physical or mechanical
means of carrying out the fertilization that causes their death after the
formation of membrane has well begun and the normal process of development
seemingly set going."

A dag of disaster was Feb. 16, 1927. The worst storm in the records

486 IMPROVEMENT ERA

of the Pacific Coast visited that part of the country, leaving death and
destruction in its wake. 'More than 500 residents, the reports say, were
driven from their homes at Long Beach by flood waters. The greatest
tragedy was reported from the mountain camp of the Southern California
Edison Company, 75 miles from Fresno, where 1 1 persons were killed in
an avalanche. From Jugoslavia came reports of disastrous seismic dis-
turbances., "Earthquake has followed earthquake," the message from Bel-
grade said, since the first shocks early Sunday rocked a large though sparsely
populated section of the country. Many buildings were destroyed at
Ljubine in the province of Herzegovina, and the number of dead at that place
alone was estimated at a hundred. Snowslides in the vicinity of Price, Carbon
county, Utah, were responsible for three deaths and several injuries. The dead
are Gus Goodart, 65, mine foreman of Latuda, Utah; Moroni Mower, 30,
stable boss at the Latuda camp; Dan Grundvig, 40, miner of Wattis, Utah.
On the same day, Prof. Bendandi's observatory at Faenza, Italy, registered a
"catastrophic earthquake," estimated at 5,270 miles distant, and the U. S.
weather bureau seismograph at the University of Chicago registered earthquakes
over a period of nearly five hours, ending at 12:35 a. m., at a distance of
about 8,500 miles from Chicago.

Justice J. E. Frick passed away Feb. 12, 1927, at the home of his son
in Los Angeles, where he had gone for his health. With his death, Utah
loses one of her prominent citizens, and the bar one of its most distinguished
members. Justice Frick was born Aug. 6, 1848, in Tiffin, Ohio, of German
parentage. On July 8, 1897, he came to Salt Lake City. Here he engaged in
the private practice of law until 1906, when he was elected to the supreme
court for the regular six year term, and in 1912 he was re-elected to succeed
himself for a second six year term. On the expiration of his term, he retired
from the position, but former Gov. Simon Bamberger, recognizing his quali-
fications for the office, appointed him to the bench again to fill the vacancy
left by the death of Judge William McCarty in 1913. Again in 1920, Judge
Frick was chosen for the supreme bench for the regular ten-year term and with
the exception of a few vacations taken on account of illness, he remained at
the work until his death. During this lengthy service on the supreme bench,
Judge Frick has written the opinions and taken part in most important
litigation coming before the supreme court of Utah. Gov. George H. Dern:
"I have known and admired Judge Frick ever since my boyhood, and in his
death, I have lost a dear personal friend," the governor said. "The state of
Utah has lost one of its most distinguished citizens, whose brilliant work
as a justice of our supreme court is recognized by every member of the
bar. He was an encyclopedia of legal knowledge, was possessed of a rare
judicial temperament and was a tireless worker. The service he has ren-
dered on the supreme bench will stand as a lasting monument to his memory.
He was a man of most kindly and genial disposition, warm-hearted and
and sympathetic and those who knew him best were his staunchest friends."
Judge Samuel R. Thurman. chief justice of the supreme court: "My
association with Judge Frick began in May, 1917, and our relations ever since
have been close and intimate. I have found him to be companionable in the
highest degree. We had our differences of opinion at times in official matters,
but never was there anything disagreeable in our relations. The supreme court
relied on Judge Frick very much because of his long experience on the bench
and especially on account of his familiarity with former decisions of this court.
In the absence of a suitable digest of these decisions, his knowledge in that
respect was invaluable to all of his associates. He was remarkable in his capacity
for work, always on the job when his health permitted which was nearly all
of the time. When he went to Los Angeles, Judge Frick had finished his work
as far as it was assigned to him and so it may be said that his work is finished
in the supreme court of Utah. Members 'of the bar all realize his great service
on the bench and our loss in his passing."

Praise — A Sonnet

For all the days of gladness and of peace,
For all the nights so starry and so calm,
For dear ones whose affections never cease,
For words of kindness filled with sweetest balm,
For sparkling dew drops on the blushing rose,
For all the wild things in the forest green,
For loveliness and bliss and sweet repose,
Whom shall I praise for all this I have seen?
Whom shall I praise and love, and serve alway.
And cherish and hold ever near my heart?

It is my God — he guides my steps today

And helps me ever choose the better part.

I'll praise him, and my soul with joy will thrill.

Whate'er befall I'll love and praise him still.
Mr. Pleasant, Utah. ALBERTA JACOBS.

IMPROVEMENT ERA, MARCH, 1927

»

Two Dollars per Annum

Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second-class matter

Heber J. Grant, Ipdt Melvin J. Ballard, Business Mgr.

Edward H. Anderson. \ * Moroni Snow, Assistant.

Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act of

October 3, 1917, authorized on July 2, 1918

CONTENTS

A One Lone Scout Frontispiece

A One Lone Scout. A Poem Bertha A. Kteinman 397

Fire and Philosophy on the Ganges. Illustrated Dr. Franklin S. Harris ... .399

Alcohol and Humanity - L. Weston Oaks, M. D._ —405

A Prayer. A Poem Dorothy Davenport 412

Rare Indian Curios Frank Beckwith 413

Dark Days. A Poem Elsie M. Larsen 417

Fort Nez Perces — Built in 1818, as the "Gibraltar

of the West" Illustration 418

Joseph Smith and the Great West — XIV /. K. Russell —419

Ploughed Under. A Poem Moroni Allen 426

Who Knows the Law? J. T. Barrett __426

The Right of Jesus the Christ to be Called Master ..Russell L. Hess —427

To a Worthy Widower. A Poem Georqie E. Gibby __428

The Literal Word of God Ellen L. Jakeman 429

How It Works -432

Meaning of the Word "Mormon" J. M. Sjodahl...

Character Education Through Literature Charles E. Soelberg.... „435

A Dream. A Poem '. Grace Ingles Frost— .... —437

Third International Boys' Work Conference. Il-
lustrated Oscar A. Kirkham 438

Fear. A Story A. Henderson

To a Missionary. A Poem Zelma Miller

God Proclaimed by Zion's Beauties . Nancy Smith Lowe ..

An Awakening. A Story Silas L. Cheney Aa\\

Smile Dorothy C. Retsloff 457

God's Handiwork. A Poem H. Graehl '111

Messages from the Missions. Illustrated 458

And You? A Poem George Walter ~ £\

Editors' Table — Our Heritage -462

Reflections 4 °4

466

Books

Priesthood Quorums — -- — 467

Mutual Work 466' 4™

Passing Events JLy

praisc — A Sonnet Alberta Jacobs L __,487

SOHMER

Gupid Grand

Florentine Model

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f/i/is acquired the piano that for nearly forty
r r years has continued supreme among small
Grands. To possess this magnificent little instrument is
to achieve the lifetime privilege of revelling in sympa-
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in the entire field of small Grand pianos.

A plan of deferred payments with the acceptance of

your used piano in exchange makes the Sohmer Cupid

Grand conveniently available to those of modest means^

Your Name and Address Brings Free Postpaid Catalogs

Name Address

"OLDER THAN THE STATE OF UTAH

fmrm(

ESTABLISHED I860

61-3-5 MAIN W

JOSEPH J. DAYNES PRES. CAPITAL $1,000,000.00

WHEN 1VRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

Advertisin

g

Policy of the

Era

We accept only the highest

class

of advertising. We recommend to

our readers

the firms and

good:

found in our advertising pages.

ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE

Beneficial Life Ins. Co.

Jos. Wm. Taylor, Undertaker

Bennett's Service Stations

L. D. S. Business College

Co-op Furniture Co.

LaSalle Extension University

Daynes-Beebe Music Co.

Model Knitting Works

Deseret Book Store

Salt Lake Loan Office

Deseret News

Southern Pacific Lines

Fleischmann's Yeast

Utah Home Fire Ins. Co.

Zion's Co-operative Mctle. Inst.

HUMOROUS HINTS

' 'Twas the night before pay day, and all through my jeans,
I'd hunted in vain for the ways and the means; ,
Not a quarter was rattling, not even a jit;
The kale was off duty, the greenbacks had flit.
Forward, turn forward, oh time in thy flight,
And make it tomorrow, just for tonight." — J. W. H., Calif.
* * * *

"Dey had to t'row water on Sam Johnson's face at his wife's funeral."
"Dasso? He done fainted?"

"No, indeed; he's jes' an uncomtnonly sound sleeper."

* * *

"A colored murderer has just been hanged by the due process of the law —
not lynched, you know," said a man to a good old colored preacher.

The old preacher replied: "Thank goodness de brack man am gettin' his jus!
deserts at last!" — Los Angeles Times.

La Salle Extension University

.The World's Largest Business Training Institution

FIND YOURSELF THROUGH LASALLE

LaSalle Extension University, Improvement Era or 214 Templeton Bldg., Salt Lake City, Utah

I would welcome an outline of your SALARY-DOUBLING PLAN, together

with a copy of "Ten Years' Promotion in One," all without obligation. I am

interested in field checked below:

□ BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: Q TRAFFIC Management Foreign
Training for Official Managerial, and Domestic.

Sales and Departmental Execu- □ Industrial Management,

tl.ve positions. 3 Banking and Finance.

□ HIGHER ACCOUNTANCY: Q Modern Foremanshtp and Pro-
Training for position as Auditor, duction Methods.
Comptroller, Certified Public 3 Personnel and Employment Man-

|Accountant, etc. agement.

3 MODERN SALESMANSHIP: 3 Railway Station Management.

Leading to position as Sales Ex- □ Commercial Law.

ecutlve, Salesman, Sales Coach 3 Expert Bookkeeping,

or Trainer, Sales Promotion □ Business English.

Manager, Manufacturer's Agent, □ Commercial Spanish.

Solicitor, and all positions in re- □ Effective Speaking.

tail, wholesale, or specialty □ C. P. A. Coaching for Advanced
selling. Accountants.

□ LAW: Training for Bar: LL.B. tp
Degree. r ree

□ MODERN BUSINESS CORRES- tirrTTVT V17AT?C'
PONDENCE AND PRACTICE: l-fcilN I riAltS
Training for position as Sales D'Pri'MTlTTrfc'W TM
or Collection Correspondent, rMWIBO. \J 1 JLUll 111
Sales Promotion Manager, Mail n"NT?"
Sales Manager, Secretary, etc. V/llJa

NAME _ ADDRESS

If HEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

LATTER-DAY SAINTS GARMENTS

From FACTORY direct to you. Made to ORDER Old or New Stylo.
Lowest Price. Highest Quality.

No.

209 All fine silk $5.00

4 Lt. flat weave 95

11 Lt. cotton unbleached 1.40

20 Lt. cotton bleached 1.60

60 Medium unbleached 1.65

22 Medium bleached 1.85

19 Heavy unbleached 2.08

No.

24 Heavy bleached $2.20

10 Med. 1/3 wool 2.75

16 Heavy 1/3 wool 3.75

18 All Merino wool 5.50

59 Med. % silk % wool _ 7.00

21 Light silk stripe wool 4.25

25 Lt. V% silk % wool 5.00

If Postal M. O. is inclosed with your order POSTAGE will be PREPAID
in U. S. Outside add 15c per garment.

Specify OLD or NEW Style, long or short legs or sleeves. Give these
MEASUREMENTS for all styles: Length, from top of shoulder to inside
ankle bone. Bust: Around body under arms. Sleeve: From shoulder seam
down to length desired. Double backs 20c extra per Garment.

APPROVED LABEL AND CORRECT PATTERNS

Model Knitting Works

No. 657 Iverson St., Salt Lake City, Utah.

Father: "Johnny, the teacher says you didn't do as well in spelling today."
Johnny: "Well, she gave the word 'banana' and I got started and couldn't
decide when to stop." — J. W., Utah.

How dear to my heart i$ the old Silver dollar, when Some kind member
pre$ent$ it to view; the Liberty head without necktie or collar, and the Strange thingS
which to u$ Seem So new. The wide Spreading eagle, the arrowS below it,
the $tar$ and wordS with the Strange thingS they tell; the coin of our fathers,
we are glad we knew it, for Some time or other 'twill come in right well. The
Spread Eagle Dollar, the $tar-$pangled dollar, the old Silver dollar we all love
So well. — J. W., Utah.

* * *

Price: "Hasn't she the X-Ray stare?"
Sheffield: "Yes, I feel undressed." — N. G. 5.

"My wife don't give a darn," cried the husband with holes in his socks." —
Pcrrins.

YOU SHOULD NOT
HESITATE

Delay often spells Regret
Let us send one of our representatives.
He will explain the many liberal Pro-
tection features.

Call or Write

Was. 550 Salt Lake City, Utah

ACCIDENT INSURANCE

WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

New Classes being formed
every day
Enter Any Time

Why attend the L. D. S. Buai ness

College?
Best courses of study.
Best teachers, specially train-
ed, experienced and successful
Best methods.
Best equipment.
Best returns for your time and money.

L. D. S. Business College

SALT LAKE CITY
"The School of BEST Results"

Isadore Rosenbaum went into business. Among his customers was a miserly old
fellow named Cassidy, who wouldn't settle. When his clerk told him about it,
Rosenbaum said: 'What kind of a letter did you write him?" The clerk told
him, but Rosenbaum insisted, "That is no kind of letter to write," and sat down
and wrote the following:

"Mr. Cassidy, who bought those goods of us? You. Who promised to pay
in sixty days? You. Who's a dirty loafer? Yours truly, Isadore Rosenbaum."
— How to Sell.

* * *

Bell: "Why did Cora raise such a row with the tailor over her new skirt?"
Nell: "It did not come up to her expectations." — D. C. R.

* * *

"Don't kid me any more," cried the father to the stork who had just left

twins. — Percins.

* * *

Our Uncle says: "Some men will to get rich, others get rich because of a will."—
Pern'ns.

DIAMONDS

MORE VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY

We buy our Diamonds at less than the wholesale price and pass this

saving on to our customers. Just compare our values — you'll be surprised

to learn how much you can really save

ALL DIAMONDS RE-MOUNTED IN NEWEST SETTINGS

SALT LAKE LOAN OFFICE

I. SIEGEL JEWELRY CO.
76 EAST 2nd SOUTH 23 YEARS IN UTAH

WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

I Recommend This Wonderful

Food

Mrs. Mary L. Harrison, Ogden, Utah, in writing to The Fleischmann Company
about yeast-for-health said:

"I simply can't praise Freischmann's Yeast enough. After suffering with
stomach trouble for thirty years, I began taking two cakes of Fleischmann's
Yeast dissolved in hot water, daily. I am now enjoying the best of health
and recommend this wonderful food to all those suffering with bad blood
or stomach disorders."

Fleischmann's Yeast is not a medicine in any sense — just a simple fresh
food that brings health in a natural way. It banishes constipation, digestive
disturbances, clears the skin. Grocers sell it and recommend it to their
customers because they realize that by doing this they render their customers
a service.

Eat it regularly every day before meals, two to three cakes a day. Dissolve
it in water, fruit juices, milk or spread it on crackers. Some prefer it plain,
eaten from the cake in small portions. For constipation especially dissolve
it in hot water (not scalding) before breakfast.

FLEISCHMANN'S YEAST

At All Grocers
Eat 2 or 3 Cakes a Day

You Can Always

Save Money at the

CO-OP. FURNITURE COMPANY

$197.50

Terms: $15.00 Down $10.00 Per Month

It will pay you well to investigate our prices on quality furniture

before you buy

CO-OP FURNITURE CO.

33 SOUTH MAIN STREET

WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

Worth While Improvement
for 1927

More Homes With Books In,
More Books for the Home

"Reading Maketh
a full Man"

Bacon

Buy a Book Every Week

Deseret Book Company

44 East on South Temple

JOSEPH WILLIAM TAYLOR

UTAH'S LEADING

1872 UNDERTAKER 1927

Best Equipped for Calls Night or Day in or Out of the City

Price of Caskets at Your Suiting

Services the Latest Advancement

Phones Wasatch 7600, both Office and Residence

21-25 South West Temple Street

Fire Is No Respecter of Persons

You may wait till tomorrow to insure —
but the fire may not.

"See our agent in your town"
UTAH HOME FIRE INSURANCE CO.

HEBER J. GRANT & CO., General Agents, Salt Lake City, Utah

WHEN WRITING TO ADVERTISERS, PLEASE MENTION THE IMPROVEMENT ERA

Make the Carbon work for you,
That's what ETHYL GAS will do,

Turn the Carbon into power.
Get extra Mileage without "Knocks" with

BENNETT'S

ETHYL [RED] Gasoline

SO MANY REASONS WHY
IT SHOULD BE

FIRST

WE ISSUE THE BEST THERE IS IN
LIFE INSURANCE—

You Need Our Insurance —
We Want Your Business

Beneficial Life Insurance Co., SS0™

Heber J. Grant, President Lorenzo N. StohL Manager SALT LAKE CITY